Asian capital continues to bet on hospitality investment in the UK, drawn by interesting opportunities, the rule of law and diversification strategies, according to Edwin Liu, chief investment officer & managing director, UK & Europe, Heeton Holdings.
Speaking to moderator Ed Fitch, head of hospitality UK & Ireland, Cushman & Wakefield at the Annual Hospitality Conference (AHC) 2025 in Manchester, Liu explained that Singapore-headquartered Heeton had been active in UK hospitality for 10 years.
“We’ve established a portfolio of ten assets, through various cycles of investment and divestment,” he said. “Heeton is a property developer by trade with a track record in residential development in Singapore. We classify ourselves as a core+, value-add developer. But we like the recurring income that hospitality offers.”
UK appeal
According to Liu, the UK’s appeal lies in both its stability and the opportunity to diversify the group’s portfolio. “In Singapore, investment opportunities are far and few between. It’s a small island, with a population of less than 6 million people,” he said. The UK also benefits from a “stable legal system”, he added. “When it comes to real estate, you can take risks on the economy and read into operational real estate, but you can’t take risks on the freehold ownership.”
He noted that while Heeton has explored Asian markets closer to its Singaporean base in the name of diversification, countries such as Thailand and Vietnam have “more geopolitical difficulties” compared to the UK. Finally, aspects such as the country’s stable currency and even its planning system also appeal. “Plot ratios play a significant role in the Asian planning system, and change of use can be harder to achieve,” he said.
Asset criteria
Liu said that in terms of criteria for selecting investment targets, “location, timing and then the asset itself are very important for us”. He added: “We are very selective about urban-centric locations with very good infrastructure.” He explained that “timing” tends to take into account global geopolitical risks and comparative safe havens.
Despite the overall appeal of the UK’s hospitality stock, Liu conceded that deals are not happening every day. “There can be a discrepancy between the sentiment to invest and the assets that are out there,” he said. “When we first came to the UK, we were focused on London’s Zone 1 as our investors and backers were rightly cautious going into a new country.”
He noted that Heeton’s Asian peers were also highly selective, with a few funds focusing on “just two or three streets in a particular postcode”, and displaying a preference to “wait it out” if they couldn’t find an asset that met their strict parameters.
However, he underlined that Heeton’s investment journey in the UK has deepened over the last decade, with assets today in regional cities including Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. “We are interested in secondary cities with key infrastructure,” he said. He also noted that “five-to-seven-year cycles are typical for us”, acknowledging that the firm’s UK assets “have seen yields fluctuate due to inflation, but this has been quite mild compared to other markets”.
In terms of financing its UK deals, Heeton still works with Singaporean banks but started to add local financing partners about five years ago. “I think that our partnerships with banks in Singapore have given us a leg up, but that is all really to do with relationships that have been built up over the years,” he said. “We are starting to find local lenders equally competitive, however,” he concluded.