Perceptions of the property sector may have been improved by Oaktree Capital Management’s initial public offering of UK estate agent Countrywide and the IPO of UK housing developer Crest Nicholson earlier this year. But most of the buyout industry is still wearing hard hats around construction projects.

The exits of Countrywide, which raised £200m and valued the company at £750m, and the £247m Crest Nicholson IPO did manage to improve sentiment from the lows of last year. In January, a KPMG report said businesses would need to redouble efforts to stop margins sliding further, pessimism was at its lowest point since 2008 and a return to growth still looked two years away.