Demand for UK logistics and artificial storehouse space — fuelled by the continuing growth in online retail — has continued to soar, with 2021 full-time data (for storage over square feet in size) showing a new record high in take-up, as70.1 million square feet was let or vended for own occupation, according to new numbers from Cushman & Wakefield.
The figure was nearly a third of the former high in 2020 of 53 million square feet and further than double the quantum of space transacted during a normal time pre-pandemic. From an investment perspective, the request also had a record time in 2021, with£ 17 billion of deals transacted. The final quarter alone saw as an important investment as an average timetable time (£ 6 billion-plus).
Demand concentrated on good quality bottom space, with over 40 million square feet of new space taken by occupiers in 2021. The data showed that for the first time on record, more academic space (20.6 million square feet) was taken than erected-to-suit, reflecting the urgency with which numerous occupiers presently need space.
Online retail was the main motorist of lettings, as e-commerce drivers committed to20.5 million square feet in 2021 — accounting for 33 per cent of total take-up of logistics space. Numerous multi-channel retailers also took storage to serve both their online and store-grounded retail networks.
Logistics providers were also monstrously avaricious in 2021, taking13.6 million square feet or 22 per cent of the 2021 aggregate, a press release from Cushman & Wakefield said.
In response to the exceptional occupier demand, inventor’s delivered13.7 million square feet of academic development, nearly double the 2020 volume of7.3 million square feet. The development channel for 2022 is indeed bigger, with over 15 million square feet of space presently under construction.
The exploration shows that inventors are continuing the trend of erecting lower units of two square feet, but similar is their confidence in occupiers’ appetite for new space, some have committed to larger units of over square feet, and to systems outside, several large visage-European/ global portfolios with UK logistics exposure changed logistics exposure change hands, similar to EQT Exeter and Cabot Parcels’portfolios. The trend towards erecting scale is illustrated by adding lot sizes.
Another trend is the continuing affluence of capital from overseas, with overseas investors counting for over 60 per cent of total volumes in 2021, compared with 54 per cent in 2020.