SHW has produced new research into the office, industrial and development sectors across the South East. Significant trends identified by the research include:
Offices
- ‘Hot’ locations such as Brighton and Croydon continue to see higher rents and availability falling. Vacant office space in Croydon, for example, stood at 1,800,000 sq ft in 2013 – today, it stands at a mere 206,000 sq ft, just 3.7% of built stock
- The relatively few speculative builds are faring well, with many pre-let before completion, such as Brighton’s seven-storey Brinell Building, 65,000 sq ft of A Grade new-build offices next to the main railway station
- Healthy stock levels can be found in locations such as Crawley (17%), but these figures are seen as temporary as several large occupiers have released space in the town due to relocation to new-build options leaving a few large vacancies
Industrial / logistics
- Prime locations continue to suffer from low stock levels, with Crawley / Gatwick currently encountering a mere 2.7% available
- Most interest is from the Warehouse & Logistics sector
Development
- Strong demand for commercial land in prime locations with Croydon and Crawley seeing high prices paid on the back of good demand for stock
- Good demand in selected locations for residential land, especially land suitable for houses
Head of Business Space Tim Hardwicke said: “The overall picture is generally healthy in the main with good demand across all sectors.”
