The level of industrial take-up in the M25 market in 2004 is expected to be in line with last year, according to FPDSavills’ latest M25 industrial and warehousing survey.
According to the survey, take-up in the first six months of 2004 amounted to 241,800sq m which was exactly half of the total for 2003. Most of the take-up has been by end user, storing and distributing products. Third-party distribution providers have also been active, although less so than in previous years.
Nearly half of the deals, by floorspace, in the first six months of 2004 were signed in the northern sector which is in line with recent years.
The survey says that the most encouraging aspect of the of the M25 industrial market last year was that the overall take-up level stopped falling and showed a slight increase.
Steven Lang, of FPDSavills research team, comments: “The latest data confirms that we have reached the bottom of the cycle. Given an improved economic environment and business confidence in the UK, we expect take-up to around five million sq ft during 2004.”
Availability levels continued to increase during last year, although at a much slower rate than the previous two years. FPDSavills expects a peak in supply to be reached by March quarter 2005.
