■ The strong levels of occupier demand throughout 2014 and the lack of large scale speculative development has seen the availability of existing units fall to record lows.

■ From a peak of 94m sq ft in 2009, the supply of existing units over 100,000 sq ft on the market now stands at just 22m sq ft (England only). A fall of almost 47% year-on-year.

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■ At a regional level the East Midlands currently has the most existing supply, standing at 5m sq ft across 29 units over 100,000 sq ft. Of those units Savills would only classify eight as Grade A modern supply. Indeed, across the country, Grade A supply stands at just 10.3m sq ft.

■ The largest building currently on the market is Sherburn 550 in North Yorkshire. Construction is currently underway to merge two smaller units to create a single unit totalling 550,336 sq ft. Once complete this will be the only unit in the UK on the market over 500,000 sq ft.

■ This drastic fall in supply has not however resulted in developers rushing to develop units speculatively in the same volumes as the last cycle.

■ Savills are tracking 15 logistics schemes over 100,000 sq ft through the development pipeline across the country totalling 3.54m sq ft. Of this, 10 units are currently under construction due for delivery through 2015. The five remaining schemes have been announced and await detailed planning consent to proceed.

■ Of the speculative schemes completed to date, five units were let before completion and four units totalling 629,000 sq ft are now being let on the open market. The largest being 310,000 sq ft at Prologis Park in Dunstable.

Taken from
UK Logistics: Big Shed Briefing - January 2015