Take-up of UK industrial and logistics space hit 45.73m sq ft in 2022, 49% above the long-term annual average, according to Savills’ latest Big Shed Briefing.
Last year’s take-up figure was the third best on record for the sector, with the most active occupiers being 3PLs, which accounted for 32% of all new leases signed in 2022 – the highest proportion ever recorded. Manufacturing-led deals accounted for 10.7m sq ft of total take-up, 62% higher than the long-term average.
The data underlines the growing supply demand imbalance for I&L space, with the nationwide supply of stock standing at 25.6m sq ft across 131 units, reflecting a vacancy rate of 3.96% – an increase of 85bps on the 2021 year-end figure.
Savills’ data shows 20.77m sq ft of speculative space will be delivered across 2023 and into 2024, but 12% of this space is already under offer.
Kevin Mofid, head of industrial and logistics research at Savills, said: “The occupational market continues to perform well, with yet another new take-up record set in the first half of the year. Whilst H2 has seen demand return to more normalised pre-Covid levels there are some interesting occupier trends starting to emerge, which we should see continue into 2023.
“Given the wider economic landscape, there is little doubt that the sector will continue to face challenges in 2023. However, occupier requirements remain strong and vacancy in all markets remain well below historical levels. Essentially, with occupiers continuing to look for Grade A facilities we expect the market to maintain its equilibrium moving forward.”
