Record rise for warehouse take-up levels in Q3 2020

Take-up of UK logistics space is 111% higher than this time last year, according to the latest research by global real estate advisor CBRE.

The continuation of strong sector performance through Q3 2020 takes the total space acquired in the first three quarters of the year to 32.57m sq ft. This compares to the last strongest full year performance when take-up reached 31.78m sq ft in 2018.

Jonathan Compton, Senior Director, UK Industrial & Logistics at CBRE, said: “The extraordinary level of take-up seen in Q2 has now been exceeded in Q3. To put the numbers into context, the past six months take-up exceeds the annual total for eight of the past ten years. Concerns around Covid-19 and Brexit have not suppressed demand, and consumers in the UK have fundamentally changed the way they shop.”

Tasos Vezyridis, Senior Director, Research at CBRE added: “The sudden rise in e-commerce due to the pandemic will have a lasting effect and has concentrated five years growth of online sales within just six months.

“This has altered the logistics expansion plans of retailers and accelerated their needs, pushing them to take readily available space. With supply struggling to cope with the abrupt increase in demand, we expect the industrial and logistics sector to continue to outperform the other property sectors.”

A total of 45 deals have completed in Q3 2020, compared with 21 for Q3 2019 representing an increase of 114%. The average unit size was slightly smaller at 296,171 sq ft, compared to 300,709 sq ft for the same period in 2019.