Ask anyone in real estate investment what the main feature has been of property markets in Europe since the global financial crisis of 2008–2009 and they will say “debt”. Or the lack of it. The glory days of cheap and plentiful credit came to an end, and debt finance for real estate transactions became increasingly hard to find, on any terms. The banks, the traditional providers of debt at the various levels, are undergoing deleveraging, with mixed success. Some have withdrawn from the real estate debt business altogether. Alternative providers are coming forward but it seems that they will not be able to fill the debt funding gap. Editor Richard Fleming spoke recently with Philip Cropper, head of real estate finance at CBRE and an executive director at the firm, about the current situation in European real estate markets and the role that is bei