Forty five per cent of investment acquisitions completed by Irish investors during the year were lot sizes of between 10m and 50m.

Thirty per cent of transactions were properties where the lot size was less than 10m, the research indicates.

There were 11 transactions ranging between 50m and 100m, 12 transactions ranging between 100m and 250m and four transactions ranging between 250m and 500m, including the acquisition of the Woolgate Exchange Building in Central London by D2 Private for over 472m.

This was the single biggest Irish acquisition in the UK during 2006.

Fifty four per cent, or 2.97bn, of Irish investment spend in the UK last year comprised office properties.

Irish investors made 54 office property investments in the UK during the year.

Five of these investments were business parks. A further 2.145bn, or 39% of total Irish spend, comprised retail properties, of which seven comprised shopping centres.

Only 3% of Irish acquisitions were industrial properties.

While the bulk of appetite was focussed on central London, which accounted for 43% of investment spend, Irish buyers were also active in other British markets, with strong buying activity in Birmingham and the West Midlands, Scotland, Leeds and the M25 and Thames Valley markets.