Member Article

Speculative development slowdown stifles Yorkshire industrial property market

The lack of grade A industrial space across Yorkshire has led to a slow-down in overall take-up, with the reduction of stock leading to a fall in investment volumes of 18%, according to research by national property consultancy, Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).

In a review of the first half of 2013, results showed that that total industrial investment across Yorkshire and the North East stood at £69.59m, compared to £85m in H1 2012.

Notable transactions included Tritax’s purchase of The Range at NimbusPark in Doncaster for £37m, a UK investor’s purchase of Maplin Distribution Warehouse at Brookfields Park in Rotherham for £11.5m and Valad Europe’s purchase of the Micheldever Unit at Lowfields BusinessPark in Leeds for £5.57m.

Despite a good supply of large, grade A warehouse and logistics facilities over 100,000 sq ft in the region, LSH has calculated that there is less than one month’s supply left of the traditionally more sought after smaller sheds.

Rob Whatmuff, director and regional head of industrial and logistics agency for the North, said: “We have reached a critical tipping point where we need new developments on site to ensure that SME and mid-box occupier demand can be met.

“There are several large-scale distribution units on the market, but we have little to offer those occupiers seeking any units less than 100,000 sq ft.

“It’s a dangerous situation as businesses that want to expand or move into Yorkshire will have no choice but to look elsewhere for existing buildings.”

The LSH Industrial Market Review shows that the average industrial rent in Yorkshire for prime space currently stands at £5 per sq ft. Total take up for H1 2013 is approximately 3.9m sq ft.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .