London has a “critically low” supply of lab space, according to Gerald Eve’s new LabTrack report.
The report, which monitors the lab development pipeline across London’s key clusters, found that although there is 1.3m sq ft of lab-enabled accommodation scheduled for completion across London clusters between 2023-2025, speculative lab development could slow as investors take a more cautious view.
Between 2026 and 2027, a further 3.2m sq ft of lab-enabled space is predicted to be delivered across 12 schemes in the capital, with delivery fairly evenly balanced throughout the key clusters of the Knowledge Quarter, SC1, London West and London East.
Angus Minford, partner in Gerald Eve’s capital markets team, said: “With the chronic shortage of lab accommodation across London, it is welcome news that there is a significant pipeline of development. However, with little due to be delivered before 2026/2027, the question remains if the development pipeline over the next two years is enough to satisfy the existing pent-up demand and, if not, will these occupiers wait or look elsewhere?”
Lisa Webb, partner in Gerald Eve’s planning and development team, added: “We have recently seen some of the first bespoke retrofits for life sciences projects in London being granted planning permission. While we expect this will lead to an increase in supply in the short term as more of these types of projects come forward, these retrofits are only likely to satisfy small and immediate occupational needs given they are, by and large, piecemeal in both location and size, leaving larger, more bespoke requirements, waiting for the bulk of the supply to come forward.”
