Alternatives are fast becoming the new mainstream. That was the message from CBRE in its half-year Property Perspective report on niche real estate in the UK. Aptly sub-titled More Mainstream than Mainstream, the report highlighted that a squeeze on returns and a glut of traditional property assets have prompted some investors to skip the core market and head straight to alternatives.

David Batchelor, executive director of alternative and operational real estate at CBRE, describes activity in the alternative property sector as “significant, substantial and growing”.

“It’s probably the biggest issue for major investors — how they approach specialist asset classes,” he says. “Core markets’ performances are starting to flatten out, so you need to find somewhere to get returns.”

Further numbers from CBRE confirm Batchelor’s assessment. In its EMEA Investor Intentions Survey 2018, the company found that 72 percent of inv