Take-up of science-related real estate across the ‘golden triangle’ of London, Oxford and Cambridge soared in the first half of 2023, reveals the latest data from Savills.
In the first half of the year, 674,000 sq ft of science-related space transacted – 36% above the five-year average. Although the figure was down 16% on same period last year, this was largely due to the 195,000 sq ft pre-let to MSD in King’s Cross in May 2022.
As much as 396,000 sq ft of this year’s total was for lab space – up 111% on the five-year average. In Oxford and Cambridge, lab take-up reached 240,000 sq ft and 120,000 sq ft respectively, which is the highest level ever recorded in the first half of the year.
Key deals across the golden triangle in H1 2023 included Moderna pre-letting 145,000 sq ft at Harwell Campus (pictured) and MSD pre-letting an additional 12,000 sq ft at Sky Lab at the Francis Crick Institute, King’s Cross.
At present, There is currently 449,000 sq ft of science-related space under offer within the golden triangle and Savills said the second half of the year will see “more encouraging levels of take-up”.
The investment market dipped significantly compared with the same period last year, with £320m of assets traded or under offer in H1 2023 (2022: £850m). Savills attributed the fall to the “challenging economic conditions affecting all capital markets” and added £700m of science-related stock is currently being marketed. The company said it was “confident that will translate into transactions in the second half of the year as investors remain keen to deploy money into the sector”.
Tom Mellows, head of UK science at Savills, said: “The first half of the year has remained positive for the sector, notwithstanding the macroeconomic issues impacting the market. It is promising to see transactions for laboratories increasing, as we see occupiers start to benefit from new development of purpose built space across the region.
“Undoubtedly, the more challenging funding market will lead to difficult decisions for some, but this should ultimately see interesting trends emerge, including greater collaboration between big pharma and start-up firms.”
