Leading Midlands property consultancy Harris Lamb has raised concerns over the lack of industrial accommodation across the West Midlands.
The award winning business, which has offices in Birmingham, Worcester, Stoke-on-Trent and London, claims that the economic climate has created a Catch 22 for businesses wishing to occupy in the region, leaving them with the least preferred option of design and build premises.
The shortage is such that there are barely any modern units from 100,000 sq ft unit available in and around Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry.
Neil Slade, Director, said: “The situation is very concerning, if you compare it to that of just three years ago when there were 20 plus buildings available.”
Neil attributes the deficit to both the take-up of buildings and a quickened pace of occupation over the past few years, but states that lack of new buildings is the main cause of the problem.
“Aside from owner occupiers building to suit for their own occupation – the most notable being JLR’s new Plant at i54 in South Staffordshire – there has not been any speculative development in the last few years in this sector.
“What’s even more concerning is that there appears to be nothing in the pipeline for speculative development.
“This is obviously as a consequence of prevailing market conditions, but it’s creating a catch 22 where if occupiers need manufacturing space of a certain size and specification, it seems they are going to have to take a design and build – a time and resource consuming process that is not ideal in the current climate,” he said.
Neil advised that developers and builders may soon need to take a speculative approach to creating new sites across the region. Drawing on research for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which predicts auto makers in the UK will see growth of nine per cent a year, Neil said that manufacturing predictions had a direct impact on the commercial property sector.
The report, produced by KPMG stated that the market for car makers’ suppliers would almost double from £11bn this year to £21.5bn in 2016.
“It is essential that the commercial property industry adapts, reacts and provides the building solutions that cater to a demand that is giving so much potential for growth in the sector,” he said.
“Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Nissan and Toyota have invested heavily in Britain in recent years, and with an anticipated spike in business, and so many manufacturers based in the Midlands, it is vital that our property markets respond to this growing demand,” he said.