Occupier demand for large sheds in the North West is set to outstrip supply due to the shortage of available, good quality space, according to Savills’ latest Big Shed Briefing.
If the three-year average take-up level of 6.61m sq ft is maintained this equates to just 0.51 years’ worth of supply, and with occupiers increasingly gravitating towards better quality space, and Grade A space accounting for just 17% of available stock in the region, there is a significant supply demand imbalance.
Savills said last year’s annual take-up figure of 7.06m sq ft was down on the previous year, but total take-up was still 68% above the long-term average. Seven units are currently being spec developed, totalling 2.23m sq ft, however, 1m sq ft of that space has been let prior to completion.
Jonathan Atherton, industrial and logistics director at Savills Manchester, said: “Take-up in the North West reached 7.06m sq ft in 2022 through 24 transactions. We’re continuing to track enquiries from multiple parties on good quality prime stock, with 50% of the development pipeline already under offer and due to exchange in the first quarter of this year.
“This increased competition has caused net effective rents to increase and with the lack of the new supply coming forward we fully expect this trend to continue.”
