The number of new warehouses being speculatively developed in the UK has fallen by a whopping 43 per cent, according to the latest King Sturge Industrial & Distribution Floorspace Today survey.
This is the second consecutive six-month period in which a fall has been recorded and the lowest recorded figure since 2004.
At July 2008, approximately 50 per cent of the floor space under construction speculatively in Great Britain was confined to the East and West Midlands. The highest proportion was recorded in the West Midlands, totalling almost 25 per cent of all floor space under development. The East Midlands is the only region to have recorded a rise in speculative development since our previous survey. This region accounted for 24.1 per cent of the total floor space under construction. East Anglia is the only region in which no speculative development was recorded.
However, the overall level of available floor space across the UK has increased for the sixth consecutive survey, but on this occasion relatively modestly.
The total amount of available industrial floor space across the UK stood at 231,630,520 sq ft at June 2008, a 0.5 per cent increase on six months earlier.
Over the same period, floor space available in units of 100,000 sq ft and over, decreased marginally by 0.8 per cent to 66,518,320 sq ft, while the increase in the availability of new floor space continued, rising by six per cent to 31,903,400 sq ft.
In the year to June 2008, rental growth for all industrial property across the UK increased by 1.3 per cent, according to the IPD quarterly index.
