Aviva Property fund buys first property since 2007

The UK's largest authorised property fund has bought its first property for more than two years, and is hopeful of buying about £200m more.

The £1.56bn fund has spent £20m for a retail and office building in Chester, yielding 6.4%. Manager Philip Nell says the fund is under offer for another for an additional £100m, and is looking at properties worth a further £250m - of which it hopes to acquire one worth about £100m. In August the fund had its first net inflows since June 2007, and Nell expects this to continue during the fourth quarter swelling its size by around a further 12.5%. Aviva has found what Nell considers reasonably-priced commercial property, in part by looking outside London and by buying privately. I...