The UK’s construction industry surprisingly returned to growth in September buoying arguments that the UK economy has bounced back from the initial Brexit shockwaves. The Markit/ CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) [ click here] rose to 52.3 from 49.2 in August indicating expansion. The results, substantially better that analysts had predicted, provides further evidence to support the argument that growth in the third quarter will exceed the Bank of England’s forecast of 0.2%.

Meanwhile it has been reported [ click here ] that investment in London property dropped by almost 36% in the past year. According to Cushman & Wakefield, investment in London dropped to $24.88bn in the 12 months to June 2016 just behind New York and Los Angeles. A year early London had attracted $39.4bn in comparison to New York’s $15.8bn. Brexit has again been blamed for the downturn together with high prices before the referendum vote.