West Mids industrial property stock to run dry
The current supply of industrial property stock in the West Midlands will run out next year, according to new research.
Latest figures for the region's industrial property market by property consultant CBRE shows at the current average annual take-up rate of 1.73 million sq ft there is only enough stock for another one-and-a-half years.
In the West Midlands, 2.66 million sq ft of new industrial units above 100,000 sq ft are available for occupation, which is down from 3.14 million sq ft at the end of 2010.
In total, including second-hand modern and other second-hand units, there is 5.58 million sq ft available.
At the end of 2011, take-up of new industrial units totalled 2.92 million sq ft, almost the same as the 2010 total of 2.94 million sq ft.
Richard Meering, senior director in the industrial agency team at CBRE in Birmingham, said: "The region's industrial property market put in another positive performance in 2011, with leasing activity mirroring that of the previous year.
"Sectors such as manufacturing, automotive and online retailing were the most active during the year, with notable deals including Amazon's 707,000 sq ft letting at Gazeley's G.Park development in Rugeley and Jaguar Land Rover's proposed new 1 million sq ft engine plant at i54 in Wolverhampton. We expect further activity in these sectors during 2012 with a number of significant design and builds to be announced shortly."
He added: "However, as available stock continues to decline, and with no new stock in the pipeline, we could see take-up levels fall this year, as was the case in the East Midlands last year, where take-up plummeted from 6.8 million sq ft in 2010 to just more than 2.1 million sq ft in 2011.
"Interestingly, it is the first year industrial take-up in the East Midlands has been lower than the West Midlands."
