The amount of available logistics space in the West Midlands has fallen to just 1.5m sq ft – down more than 50% year on year – following a flurry of deals during the second quarter of 2022.
New research from global real estate advisor CBRE shows take-up of big box logistics units totalled 3.5m sq ft for the region, across 14 deals in Q2. This was the highest number of regional deals completed in the UK.
The majority of take-up was speculative and build-to-suit units, with third party logistics taking almost half (43%) of the space.
Furthermore, of the 22.56m sq ft of space taken across the UK in the first half the year, the West Midlands accounted for the most with 21.9%, closely followed by the East Midlands with 18%.
As a result of the region’s strong performance, take-up in H1 2022 has already exceeded the ten-year average of 4.5m sq ft, with the vacancy rate falling to 1.54%.
Luke Thacker, associate director in CBRE’s Birmingham industrial and logistics team, said: “The Midlands continues to lead the way in the UK’s logistics market, with yet another strong quarter of take-up.
“Unsurprisingly, due to the high level of demand and an acute lack of ready to occupy units, build-to-suit and speculative accounted for three quarters of the space taken in H1 in the West Midlands.
“However, take-up in the second half of the year could be constrained, with only a handful of speculative units under construction.”