South-east England Property: Supply, Demand and Interest Rates

The south-east of England has always been a desirable place to live. With its vibrant towns, picturesque countryside, and excellent transport links, the region has attracted people from across the UK and around the world as both a place to live and an investment opportunity. Unsurprisingly, this popularity has led to a lack of supply of housing, which, in turn, has pushed up prices.

According to a recent report by the National Housing Federation, the south-east of England has the lowest level of affordable housing in the UK, with only one affordable home for every eight households that need one, making it increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder.

Richard Pillow, Director of SHW, explains: “The shortage of supply is due to several factors, including restrictive planning regulations, a lack of available land, and a slow town planning process – with approved consents often taking many months to obtain. These restrictions have made it difficult for developers to build new homes, resulting in a backlog of demand for housing.”

As demand continues to outstrip supply, house prices in the south-east are expected to continue to rise. While this may be good news for some existing homeowners, it further increases the affordability crisis for those looking to buy their first home or move up the property ladder.

Richard adds: “Another factor that is affecting the south-east property market is interest rates. The Bank of England has recently signalled that interest rates are likely to continue to rise beyond the Bank of England base rate of 4.25%, which will further increase mortgage costs for homeowners.

“High interest rates are likely to have significant long-term effects on the property market, as they make it more expensive for people to borrow money to buy a house, potentially slowing down the market and decreasing demand. This has already been observed with a cooling in transactional activity over the last few months which could have knock-on effects on the wider economy, as a slowdown in the property market could lead to a decrease in consumer spending and a decrease in economic growth.”

Ultimately, the supply and demand equation is one of the main driving forces behind the south-east England property market. Until the supply of housing can meet the demand, house prices are likely to continue to rise, potential first-time buyers will face increasing difficulties in getting onto the property ladder causing a knock-on effect to the rest of the housing chain and to the wider economy.

Richard concludes: “To address these issues, there needs to be a concerted effort by the government to increase the supply of affordable housing in the south-east. This could be achieved through a combination of policies, such as relaxing planning regulations, providing central government funding for new housing developments, and importantly streamlining the planning process.

“In addition, the government needs to be mindful of the impact that pro-longed high rising interest rates could have on the property market and the wider economy. While they may need to raise rates to control inflation, they need to consider how is impacting the property market and, in turn, the wider economy.”

Bridge secures planning consent for its largest UK development to date

Bridge Industrial (“Bridge”), the US-based industrial real estate operating company and investment manager, has achieved planning consent for Bridge Point Enterprise East.

Planning approval has been granted by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham for 10 new, modern industrial buildings totalling 339,504 sq ft in Chadwell Heath, East London to serve the last mile industrial and logistics sector.

The 13-acre former Muller Dairies site, located close to the A12 and the new Elizabeth Line was acquired in 2022, with plans to return the space into state-of-the-art employment use, aligning with the council’s ambitions for the area. Optimising the use of the site, the approved net zero carbon development will provide 10 new high-quality industrial buildings, ranging from 8,515 to 131,280 sq ft with ancillary office space.

Bridge is committed to achieving a BREEAM Excellent rating for Bridge Point Enterprise East, with ESG features including EV charging infrastructure, PV panels, air source heats pumps providing high efficiency heating and cooling systems, high efficiency LED lighting throughout and significant urban greening.

Paul Hanley, Bridge’s London Partner, comments: “We worked closely with Barking and Dagenham to align with their ambitions for the area, and are thrilled to announce the ‘green light’ for this project, our flagship UK development. As with all our developments, the new facilities will provide Class A, highly sustainable and futureproofed space to serve a wide variety of occupiers looking for modern space, in a perfect location to serve last mile logistics in London and the South East.” 

Construction is expected to start on site in Q2 2023, with completion scheduled for Q1 2024. DTRE, Glenny and Savills have been retained as letting agents for Bridge Point Enterprise East.

Following the launch if its UK operations in November 2020, the firm now has six development sites within the M25 totalling more than 734,000 sq ft - in Chadwell Heath, Southall, Barking, Uxbridge, Croydon and Weybridge.

Bridge is actively pursuing land and development opportunities throughout Greater London, the South East, and the West Midlands.

SHW sells Friars Oak development site for residential development

SHW, for the freeholder, has sold the land at Friars Oak, London Road, Hassocks for a new residential development.

The land will be developed by Taylor Wimpey, having been promoted through the Town Planning Process by Rydon Homes. The site is consented for 130 dwellings homes.

The seller said: “The advice provided by SHW has been invaluable over what has been an incredibly complex route to sale. The need to tunnel under the Brighton mainline railway, to replace a pedestrian level crossing with a safe and accessible new foot tunnel, being just one of the particular complexities in releasing the land for development.”

Panther Pounces on Keypoint Swindon 

Logicor, a leading European owner and developer of logistics real estate, has signed a new 10-year lease with Panther Logistics at Keypoint 224 in Swindon.

Panther Logistics, part of AIT Worldwide Logistics, is a two-person home delivery specialist provider, known for its dedicated, premium, next-day services. Due to their growing business, they required additional, high-quality warehouse space, with the right transport links, to support their increasing fulfilment operations.

Located on Thornhill Road in South Marston, Swindon, Keypoint 224 comprises 224,465 sq ft of high-quality distribution/logistics space and is just four miles north of Junction 15 of the M4, providing excellent access to the national road network.

Existing businesses located in the area include Aldi, Iceland, B&Q, Amazon, Sainsbury’s, Dunelm and Pets at Homes.

Gary McKelvey, Vice President, Global Home Delivery Operations at AIT Worldwide Logistics, said: “It was a natural choice for us to work with Logicor, who helped us to find the right space as we continue to expand our product portfolio to serve the growing needs of our customers. We focus on delivering the ultimate last mile delivery experience to our customers and are grateful that the Logicor team has listened to our needs and supported us as our business has grown and evolved.”

Jack Garrett, Director Asset Management, Logicor says: “Panther Logistics joined us as a customer in 2014, taking one of our smaller multi-let industrial units at Crick Road Rugby.  As their business grew, they expanded into our site at Axis 62 (215,000 sq ft) in Normanton and, by working closely with the team, we are delighted to have been able to support their business and space growth yet again by providing high-quality warehouse space to meet their needs at Keypoint 224 Swindon.”

BNP Paribas Real Estate, Whitmarsh Lockhart and Savills are retained as letting agents for Keypoint Swindon. Knight Frank acted for Panther Logistics.

 

For more information, please visit http://keypointswindon.co.uk/.

Bridge Industrial appoints SVP for UK construction and development

Bridge Industrial (“Bridge”), the US-based industrial real estate operating company and investment manager, has appointed Tim Bradshaw as Senior Vice President, Construction and Development, as it continues its UK development programme. 

Tim joins from Oxenwood Real Estate where he has worked for two years as Development Manager, responsible for all aspects of development and construction management. Prior to this, Tim was Project Manager for Peel Ports Group for six years and Site Manager at Balfour Beatty for four years.

At Bridge, Tim will be working alongside Paul Hanley and the wider UK team on the existing six development sites within the M25, totalling more than 734,000 sq ft, in Chadwell Heath, Southall, Barking, Uxbridge, Croydon and Weybridge.

Paul Hanley, comments: “It’s great to have Tim onboard as we progress our current development pipeline and look towards future developments focussed on state-of-the-art, last-mile logistics.”

Tim Bradshaw says: “I am delighted to be joining the Bridge team to build out the well-formed pipeline within London and further develop the excellent Bridge product resulting in more high-quality real estate.”

In addition, Bridge has announced this year’s promotions within its UK team with Chris Doloughty being promoted from Vice President to Senior Vice President, David Sayers from Associate to Director (Project Management) and Leigh Robinson from Associate to Director.

Bridge is continuing to actively pursue land and development opportunities throughout Greater London, the South East, and the West Midlands.

NEW RENTAL HIGH FOR POLEGATE & EASTBOURNE

SHW have recently let Franklin House in Chaucer Business Park, Polegate at a record rent of £20 per sq ft, beating the previous rent of £16.50 per sq ft at Ivy House in Eastbourne town centre.

Following the exit of Veritek Global Ltd from J5-J8 Franklin House in Chaucer Business Park, Polegate. SHW were instructed to let 10,000 sq ft of vacant office accommodation over two floors.

The accommodation was divisible and is now fully let to Aspen Pumps, Computer2cloud, RJ Cortel and the Agora Clinic. 

Brighton in urgent need of warehouse space

With new industrial and warehouse development taking pace in towns and locations around the Brighton Conurbation, the City of Brighton is in danger of becoming the poor relation in terms of offering industrial and warehousing jobs, according to SHW.

SHW’s Q1 2023 Industrial Focus shows there is currently just 58,000 sq ft of industrial/warehouse space available in Brighton. This follows a take-up of 75,000 sq ft of space over the whole of 2022. With limited prospect of land being made available for industrial and warehouse development, this is leading to an escalation in rents which, in a number of cases, have doubled over the last few years from £8 to £16 per sq ft.

David Martin, SHW’s Partner and Head of Sussex Coast, says: “As always, there is a very strong demand for industrial space in the City from both existing businesses, as well as companies looking for a foothold in Brighton. The proposed new developments at Panattoni Park Brighton and Panattoni Park Burgess Hill will hopefully ease some of this pressure, particularly for companies who are under pressure to expand and do not wish to move out of the area altogether.”

David explains: “With the emphasis on new housing, industrial and warehouse stock often seems to be overlooked by Local Authorities, but at some stage this precedent does need to be seriously considered to prevent cities like Brighton just becoming a dormitory town for other locations.”

There are many developers keen to secure sites in Brighton, however the last provision of speculative industrial units over 10,000 sq ft was at Home Farm on Lewes Road in the 1980s. There have been smaller unit schemes constructed at Portland Business Park and St Joseph’s Close in Hove, as well as Woodingdean Business Park, but larger, new and modern buildings are in short supply.

David adds: “Charter Land successfully refurbished and subdivided an older building in Brighton - now called Brighton Works - within the last three years. With this scheme now being fully let, there would be scope for a Brighton Works Mark 2. The problem we are seeing is that if ever a suitable building or piece of land ever becomes available, this is normally turned over to either residential development or student housing.

“My suggestion is that where industrial estates or building are knocked down and replaced with new housing, there should be a policy in place whereby new industrial and warehouse sites are allocated to replace the lost estates. These could be on the edge of the City to keep traffic generation to a minimum, but it is a must if we are to ensure the supply of essential industrial space in the City to keep up with the high demand.”

SHW announces its Charity Partners for 2023

SHW has announced this year’s Charity Partners, as chosen by the property advisory firm’s team members.

Carrying on from its work with the charity in 2022, SHW will again be supporting Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) for a further 12 months. With 125 lives taken every week to suicide in the UK, CALM stands together to unite against suicide by provoking conversation, running life-saving services, raising awareness, and bringing people together to reject living miserably, providing help when people need it.

Adam Godfrey, Partner at SHW, says: “Together, the team at SHW decided that this year, rather than having two new charities per year, we will continue our support with each charity for two years, enabling us to form a greater partnership with each.”

“In 2022, through a series of events, including our sporting days and the SHW Great Walk, we raised just under £3,000 for CALM in its vital work against suicide. We are also delighted to be embarking on a new partnership with St Catherine’s Hospice, as chosen by our team across the South East.”

St Catherine’s Hospice is a local charity with a big ambition: to help everyone face death informed, supported and pain free. Providing expert hospice car for people in West Sussex and East Surrey, St Catherine’s Hospice also pioneers standards in end-of-life care through collaboration, research, and training, reaching even more people facing death and bereavement.

In addition, SHW is also Corporate Partner with Lionheart and Bronze Partner with Pathways to Property.

Lionheart works with the surveying community to help build stronger and happier businesses, supporting past and present RICS professionals, and their families, from APC right through their working lives and into retirement.

Pathways to Property is a joint venture between Henley Business School and the University of Reading, aiming to widen access into the real estate profession by raising awareness and aspirations about the of the range of careers available within the industry.

SHW launches further industrial space at Billingshurst Business Park, following two new lettings

SHW, on behalf of real estate and development company Dunmoore, is bringing three new units, totalling 11,500 sq ft, to the market at Billingshurst Enterprise Park.

This follows the recent lettings at Dumoore’s 21-acre commercial hub in Billingshurst to Pig’s Ears Beer and International Diplomatic Supplies.

The independent drinks distribution company has taken a new 10-year lease for 12,647 sq ft of warehouse and trade counter space in the second phase of development, alongside International Diplomatic Supplies – the world’s only dedicated diplomatic supply company - who have also signed a 10-year lease for a 9,331 sq ft warehouse and office facility.

Construction of the scheme’s second phase – which will provide 250,000 sq ft of industrial and business space accommodation – began at the start of 2022 after Dunmoore signed a forward-funding agreement with CBRE Investment Management for the development of a Lidl Supermarket.

Lidl opened at the end of 2022 and sits alongside a petrol filling station, let to Rontec, and a Costa drive-thru which will complete in the first quarter of 2023.

Jeff Hobby, Chief Executive of Dunmoore, said: “We are delighted to welcome both Pig’s Ears Beer and International Diplomatic Supplies to Billingshurst. Both are exactly the types of local, growing businesses we are looking to attract to the development. Having disposed of the trade park last year, our intention has now moved towards the second phase of development.”

SHW, DTRE and Ogle Property are joint lettings agents on behalf of Dunmoore at Billingshurst.

David Martin, Partner at SHW, says: “There is a real lack of quality space in the local area, and, despite the uncertain economic climate, there are still good levels of occupier demand. We are now in the position to formally launch three new units in the commercial hub. These will be marketed either to let or our clients would sell the plot, and we have already seen good interest in these.”

Situated approximately seven miles to the South West of Horsham, Billingshurst is an affluent commuter town which benefits from a growing population and quick links to both the South Coast and southern home counties

Stantec and Skillsearch come to Huntingdon House, Brighton

SHW has completed the letting of two more floors at Huntingdon House, 20-25 North Street in the prestigious Hannington Estate in Brighton.

Stantec has taken the second floor and Skillsearch will now occupy the fourth floor. Moving from their location within the Hannington Estate, Skillsearch required more space, making Huntington House the perfect location for their expansion needs.

The modern, newly refurbished office space, totalling 16,000 sq ft, provides open plan floor plates, new air conditioning and LED Lighting, shower facilities and a green roof and PV panels, generating energy for the communal areas.  Having let the third for to RINA in 2019, Just one floor remains available, offering 4,360 sq ft.

James Bryant, SHW’s Associate, Business Space Agency, said: “The lettings at Huntingdon House demonstrate the demand for good quality space with green credentials. We saw a record take up of Grade A space in Brighton last year and we expect this trend to continue through 2023.”

DEMAND CONTINUES TO OUTSTRIP SUPPLY ACROSS THE SOUTH EAST INDUSTRIAL MARKET

Rents continue to rise due to demand significantly outweighing supply across the South East industrial market, according to SHW’s Q1 2023 South East Industrial Focus.

Tim Hardwicke, SHW’s Partner and Head of Agency, comments: “On the whole, 2022 saw a good level of take up across all size ranges, with lower take levels generally in locations where availability of good quality stock is restricted. As predicted, strong demand continues to be linked to logistics / B8, rather than B1 manufacturing, due to the continued need for space to serve online retailing / last mile logistics. However, this sector was beginning to slow down towards the end of 2022 and we see this continuing into 2023.”

In Croydon and the surrounding areas, rents have increased from £16 per sq ft in 2021 to a highest £19.75 per sq ft achieved in 2022. Take up was just above 2021 levels with 453,000 sq ft let in 2022. With availability being halved to 670,000 sq ft and very strong logged demand (totalling 5.5 million sq ft), we should see the current 4.4% vacancy rate drop and rents remaining high in 2023.

In Sutton, Epsom, Chessington and Leatherhead, take up jumped in the second half of 2022, showing a significant increase by the end of 2022 to 178,000 sq ft (up from 102,000 in 2021). Rents increased from £15 to £17.50 per sq ft and these are likely to keep pace, with 1.2% vacancy (85,000 sq ft available) and total logged demand of 920,000 sq ft.

Redhill and Reigate recorded a relatively low take up of 48,000 sq ft in 2022, compared with 195,300 sq ft in 2021. Rental levels remain static at £13.95, however demand still outstrips the current availability for the right stock and it’s expected that rents around £17.00 will be achieved shortly.

The vacancy rate in Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath remains low at 2.9%. A healthy take up was recorded, with 128,000 sq ft let in 2022 (134,000 sq ft in 2021). With extremely high demand totalling 1.76 million sq ft in 2022 and availability standing at 65,500 sq ft, rents should edge up from the £13.25 per sq ft recorded in 2022 for the right properties and newbuild schemes are likely to see £16-17.00 per sq ft in the future. Of the total 109,500 sq ft built at Sussex Junction, Burgess Hill, just one self-contained unit of £46,500 sq ft remains available at £14.50, accounting for more than half the total availability in the area and there is good occupier interest being shown.

In Crawley and Gatwick, rents increased from the fairly static £13.75 over the last four years to £16.00 in 2022. Take up was down from 2012 levels (512,000 sq ft) to 350,000 sq ft in 2022 plus another 110,000 sq ft pre-let which is not accounted for in these figures yet. There are a number of new build schemes now being marketed, including the two units totalling 235,700 sq ft at The Base, plus 65,000 and 18,800 sq ft at Arrow Point, both in Crawley, adding up to 1,031,000 sq ft of availability which will go some way to matching the demand logged at a total of almost 3.5 million in 2022.

Horsham has seen relatively static rents at around £12.50 per sq ft due to the severe lack of stock and any newbuild schemes coming forward are likely to be around £14.50-15.00 per sq ft. Take up slightly exceeded 2021 levels, reaching 90,000 sq ft in 2022. Much needed new build schemes are coming through, including more space at Billingshurst Business Park to provide for the 840,000 sq ft of demand and also two schemes in Southwater on the outskirts of Horsham.

On the Sussex Coast, demand remains extremely high, with availability still very low. Brighton & Hove has a 1.2% vacancy, equating to 58,000 sq ft available. Logged demand exceeded 2 million sq ft in 2022, but just 75,000 sq ft was let (down from 87,500 sq ft in 2021), demonstrating the urgent need for new and refurbished industrial space. Panattoni Park Brighton, Shoreham Airport, which is about to start construction, will provide a total of 257,000 sq ft of new space this year.

In Eastbourne and the surrounding areas, demand also remains high at nearly 2.5 million sq ft, pushing rents up slightly to £12.50 sq ft in 2022. Just 89,000 sq ft was let (down from 288,000 sq ft in 2021), including 20,000 sq ft which was split and refurbished into two units and taken by East Sussex Country Council and Go Plastic Pallets. Availability remains low in comparison to demand with 185,000 sq ft recorded.

In Hastings, St Leonards and Bexhill, take up has again soared from 76,500 sq ft in 2021 to 134,000 sq ft in 2022 (0 recorded in 2019 and 13,500 in 2020). Availability has increased to 203,000 sq ft, with 1-9 Ivyhouse Lane in Hastings accounting for over half this space, but this is far outstripped by the total logged demand of over 2.6 million sq ft.

Lewes, Newhaven and Peacehaven, saw a steady increase in rental levels, with £11.50 being the highest rent achieved in 2022. Take up was also steady at 31,000 sq ft and the vacancy rate remains low at 1.5%, equating to 75,000 sq ft. This is slightly up on the previous year, but again, demand is outweighing supply at 480,000 sq ft logged.

Similarly, in Rustington & Littlehampton, rents increase further from £10 per sq ft in 2021 to £12.50 per sq ft in 2022, and take up quadrupled to 24,000 sq ft. Vacancy remains low at 1.23%, with slightly more space available, currently, (74,000 sq ft) and demand outstrips supply, totalling over 1 million sq ft logged in 2022.

The Shoreham and Lancing area has seen a dramatic increase in rents, jumping from £9.50 in 2021 to £14.50 in 2022. Take-up increased from 54,500 to 62,500 and vacancy remains low at 1.2%. Availability stands at 40,000 sq ft and with a demand logged at 850,000 sq ft across 2022 rents should remain strong.

Finally, in Worthing demand is also extremely high with almost 1.5 million sq ft logged in 2022. Take up was slightly down to 36,000 sq ft in 2022, achieving a highest rent of £11.50 per sq ft (£11 in 2021). With just 274,000 available, more quality industrial stock is needed.

Tim adds: “Due to a number of factors, such as land prices, build costs and softening of yields, rents continue to be robust and in most locations are continuing to rise. However, the rate of increase has slowed, albeit incentives have increased marginally. Due to investment yield softening, developers are having to pre-price land purchases in order to make appraisals stack up, but many speculative newbuild schemes are continuing at pace in locations with low supply.”

RELOCATIONS AND EXPANSIONS BOOST SOUTH EAST OFFICE MARKET

The South East office market has seen a dramatic improvement in take-up for many locations across the region, driven by company relocations and expansion, according to SHW’s Q1 2023 South East Office Focus.

Brighton & Hove had a bumper year in 2022 with take up reaching 220,000 sq ft (up from 70,000 sq ft in 2021. Rents jumped from a pretty static £32.00 per sq ft to £36.00 per sq ft. The new headline rent has seen quoting rents rise to £37.50 per sq ft, which SHW are confident will be achieved in 2023. Availability stands at 420,000 sq ft (vacancy 8.75%) although logged demand is far greater at 800,000 sq ft. As a result, we expect rents and take up to remain high.

The new Edward Street Quarter, Brighton accounted for approx. 80,000 sq ft of this take up, with only 30,000 sq ft of office space remaining available in this prime mixed-use development.

Crawley & Gatwick saw similar success with take up jumping from 57,500 sq ft in 2021, to 203,000 sq ft in 2022, and highest rents (£27.50) and with newbuild schemes quoting levels of £35.00 per sq ft. These figures include Crawley’s largest deal to date, with 54,000 sq ft let at Minerva.

Tim Hardwicke, SHW’s Partner and Head of Agency, comments: “Numbers are up due to many companies relocating to improve the quality of their offices, along with others taking opportunities to downsize, in part due to continued flexible working. Relocations have been mainly driven by lease events. However, there has also been a number of notable deals as a result of companies expanding.

“It’s encouraging to see companies investing in their buildings in order to provide staff with the best quality space they can afford – along with greener building promising lower running costs. As a result, we are seeing an increasing pattern of staff wishing to return to the office, rather than being directed to do so, with the new norm of 3 to 4 days per week in the office.”

In London, Grade A rents are standing at £125 in the West End and £75 in the City & Southbank, with 10-year term incentives averaging 21-24 months in the West End and 24 months in the City & Southbank. Grade A rents are reported at £42.50 in Kingston, £55 in Battersea and Putney, £57 in Wimbledon and £57.50 in Richmond.

SHW’s South East Office Focus covers further regions including Redhill, Eastbourne, Horsham, Worthing and Chichester, a copy of which is available upon request.

LOGICOR ACQUIRES STRATEGIC SITE IN DARTFORD, GREATER

Logicor, a leading owner and manager of logistics real estate in Europe, is continuing to grow its portfolio in the UK by acquiring a newly developed multi-let industrial and logistics estate in Dartford, South East London.

Part of the Littlebrook Power Station redevelopment, Plot 4a & 4b, comprising 20 units ranging from 2,885 to 6,025 sq ft, has been purchased from Tritax Big Box and Bericote to add to Logicor’s extensive UK portfolio. The scheme will be known as Logicor Park Dartford.

The high-specification terrace of industrial / warehouse units is in a prime industrial and logistics location within the M25 orbital motorway and provides a  total of c.83,000 sq ft of new, multi-let business space for this undersupplied location.

Logicor Park Dartford will be built to EPC ‘A’ Rated and BREEAM Excellent, with LED lighting throughout, solar PV roof panels, along with EV charging points.

Logicor Park Dartford will encourage the use of green travel to and from work with bike shelters, showers, changing facilities and lockers, along with a cycle to work scheme and a free bus shuttle service. Biodiversity is also supported with initiatives on site such as bee and insect hotels and bird boxes.

Strategically located adjacent to the Dartford Crossing, the scheme is positioned to provide quick, direct access to Central London and to the wider south east markets via the M25, A13 and A2. Existing occupiers in the area include Amazon, IKEA, DPD and Sainsbury’s.

Richard Phillips, Logicor’s Portfolio Director, comments: “This scheme fits perfectly within our strategy of expanding our presence in well-located industrial and logistics areas across the UK. The strategic position of Logicor Park Dartford, with its close proximity to Central London within the M25, matches our vision for connecting our customers with their customers and enabling the flow of trade.

“We are now marketing the space to let from Q1 2023 and are continuing our acquisition programme for further, well-located sites across the UK.”

JLL and DTRE have been appointed as letting agents for the scheme.

Jake Huntley, Partner at DTRE, says: “The demand for modern, well specified logistics accommodation has remained strong in recent months, as occupiers seek to decarbonise their supply-chain and increase operational efficiencies. We anticipate that the specification of Logicor Park Dartford will appeal to a wide range of businesses, aiming to benefit from the energy efficient accommodation.”

Jeffrey Prempeh, Associate at JLL add: “Dartford is an established area for industrial and logistics, serving as a strategic location providing access to London and beyond. With a shortage of industrial space in the market, there is a growing demand from SME for flexible industrial offerings, Logicor Park Dartford aims to address those needs with 20 high quality warehouse units ranging from 2,885 to 6,025sq ft.”

SHW sells Crawley High Street investment

SHW has completed the sale of 45-47a High Street, Crawley on behalf of a private client.

Located in Crawley Town Centre, in the area known as “The Square”, the two adjoining buildings, totalling 4,522 sq ft, have been sold to a family property company for more than £1.25 million.

Let to Countrywide estates, No. 45 High Street comprises a ground floor estate agent, with private interview room to the rear and an upstairs boardroom and kitchen. No 47 offers a fully fitted Turkish restaurant on the ground floor, with staff areas, offices and kitchens on the first floor.

Martin Clark, Partner at SHW said: “SHW let No. 47 on a new 15-year lease, with no breaks, to Turkish restaurant operator Turkuaz Crawley, and we were subsequently instructed to sell the two properties as an investment.

“Through our marketing and network of contacts and applicants we generated significant interest resulting in seven viewings in three days, necessitating an informal best bids process, achieving a sale price significantly over asking price.”

LOGICOR AND STOFORD SECURE FREEPORT STATUS AND PLANNING CONSENT FOR LIBERTY PARK WIDNES

Logicor, a leading owner and manager of logistics real estate in Europe, and Development Manager, Stoford have announced that Liberty Park Widnes, the 18-acre site at Newstead Road in the South Liverpool area, has been granted Freeport status as part of the Liverpool City Region Freeport.

On 10th January 2023, the Freeport was declared officially open for business after Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove approved its full business case.

The Liverpool City Region Freeport is a designated area covering 45km, located in Birkenhead, St Helens and Widnes, where a range of economic incentives will be available, covering customs, business rates, planning, regeneration, innovation, trade and investment support, and employment opportunities.

Centred on a mix of infrastructure including the deep-water container terminal at the Port of Liverpool – the UK’s biggest western facing port, which already handles 45% of trade from the US – it is the key coastal access point to the UK’s largest concentration of manufacturing.

Targeting key sectors including automotive, biomanufacturing/pharmaceutical, and maritime, the Liverpool City Region Freeport will support and attract new manufacturing, logistics and low carbon energy industries. The Freeport status offers attractive incentives to new occupiers including; five years business rate relief, three years employers national insurance relief, structures and buildings allowances, enhanced capital allowances and stamp duty land tax relief. These attractive incentives will create increased employment opportunities and regeneration for the local area, benefitting South Liverpool’s employment zone, with over three million people living within a 45 minutes’ drive.

Additionally, Logicor’s Liberty Park Widnes has achieved planning consent for two schemes at the development site to provide either one large c. 360,000 sq ft industrial / warehouse unit, or two smaller units of c. 210,000 sq ft and 150,000 sq ft. All options will offer two storey offices, ample power supply, EV charging, HGV and car parking and built to the highest standard targeting EPC A rating. The new high specification warehouse space will be available to occupy in Q1 2024.

Tom Blakely, Director, Asset Management at Logicor, says: “Achieving Freeport status at Widnes brings great benefits to future occupiers of the site, including tax reliefs on importing and new employee wages, while encouraging investment and job creation into the local area. We are excited to work with Stoford as our Development Manager on this scheme and to be part of the wider local initiatives to bring investment and employment growth to the area.”

Liberty Park Widnes is strategically located at the junction of Speke Boulevard (A562) and Knowsley Expressway (A5300), providing direct access to the national motorway network via Junction 6 of the M62 and Junction 1 of the M57. Liverpool Airport can also be accessed in just 14 minutes’ drive time and Liverpool Port is located within 12 miles of the site.

Angus Huntley, Director at Stoford, comments: “This project is an exciting opportunity to bring forward new, high-quality logistics buildings in a strategically important location.

“Liberty Park Widnes has the potential to bring jobs and inward investment to an area that continues to rapidly develop. This is one of the only fully serviced sites of its size in the South Liverpool area, which benefits from excellent transport links and a willing workforce on the doorstep to fulfil any employment requirements. Stoford has a proven track record of delivering high-quality accommodation that is attractive to major manufacturing and logistics companies and we are pleased to be working with Logicor to bring these exciting plans to fruition.”

DTRE and Avison Young are retained as letting agents and Stoford is appointed as Development Manager.

Commenting on the granting of Freeport status, Tony O’Brien, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Freeport said: “It is fantastic news that the Liverpool City Region Freeport is now open for business.  We’ve been working extremely hard throughout the development stage to ensure that we could hit the ground running when we reached this stage and I’m sure the Freeport will now deliver tremendous benefits to the city region’s economy, creating thousands of high-quality jobs and boosting growth and prosperity.”

 

For more information, please visit www.libertyparkwidnes.co.uk  

SHW instructed on seven new build industrial schemes in South London and Surrey

SHW is now instructed as letting agent on seven new build industrial and logistics schemes, totalling 750,000 sq ft, across South London and Surrey

MI1, developed by GLi in Mitcham, is a brand-new urban logistics park set in 13.5 acres on the doorstep of central London at Beddington Corner and on the popular Willow Lane industrial estate. The development offers sustainable, 100% electric units from 25,000 to 300,000 sq ft in a prime distribution area close to key road networks including the A23 and A205.

In Croydon, SHW is marketing GLi’s CR1 and CR2, providing a total of 110,000 sq ft of industrial space, with excellent sustainability credentials, located on the A23 to easily access London and the South East. While Phase 2 of Prologis Park, Beddington, located on Beddington Lane in Croydon will offer build-to-suit opportunities of up 90,000 sq ft. And Chancerygate and SGN’s Factory Lane logistics development, also in Croydon, will provide 14 units ranging from 1,000 to 14,000 sq ft, (totalling 95,000 sq ft) available to lease from Q4 2023.

In SW19, Threadneedle’s Merton 37 is nearing completion, offering a detached 37,631 sq ft, high specification warehouse/industrial unit, targeting EPC A and BREEAM Excellent and built to ‘Net Zero Carbon Ready’ for tenant fit out.

Construction of Saltwhistle Business Park in Redhill is well underway, providing business space from 5,310 to 31,546 sq ft, available to let in Q1 2023. And an additional 80,000 sq ft of high-quality industrial space is in the pipeline at Cox Lane, Chessington which will be coming to the market later this year.

Alex Gale, Partner at SHW, says: “We are delighted to be working closely with our developer clients to bring forward much needed industrial space for the South London and Surrey markets, replacing a lot of older stock that would struggle to be EPC compliant in future years. These new buildings offer the latest designs and features, with higher cubic capacities, to suit a range of occupiers.”

SHW instructed on 2.5 million sq ft of new build industrial property

SHW is now instructed as letting agent for almost 2.5 million sq ft of new build industrial and logistics property across the South East.

The advisory firm’s London and South London offices are marketing 620,000 sq ft of available industrial property to suit a range of occupiers including: MI1 for GLi in Mitcham, which totals 300,000 sq ft and CR1 in Croydon, totalling 110,000 sq ft; Phase 2 of Prologis’s Beddington Lane in Croydon (90,000 sq ft); Chancerygate’s Factory Lane in Croydon (92,000 sq ft); Merton 37 for Threadneedle and Saltwhistle Business Park in Redhill (31,000 sq ft).

In addition, a further 80,000 sq ft is in the pipeline with Cox Lane in Chessington coming to the market this year.

From SHW’s Crawley/Gatwick office, the largest scheme available is the recently PC’d The Base in Crawley, offering two units totalling 235,747 sq ft. Also just PC’d is Midpoint 23 in Pease Pottage offering seven units totalling 86,000 sq ft.

The multi-unit, 35,000 sq ft Forge Wood Employment Area in Crawley has now been pre-sold. 110,500 sq ft has been built at Sussex Junction, Bolney with 64,000 sq ft pre-let to a data centre leaving 46,500 sq ft available.

A further 85,000 sq ft in two units is being marketed in Crawley at Arrow Point and 24,000 sq ft across two units has just been pre-sold at Tungsten Park North in Horsham.

Coming forward to start on site in February this year is 435,000 sq ft at Panattoni Park in Burgess Hill. And, in the team’s most recent appointment, two units totalling 87,000 sq ft at Cross Oak Lane in Horley will be marketed on a pre-let or pre-sale bases.

Billingshurst Business Park, comprising a total of 150,000 sq ft has been part let to Lidl, along with three further pre-lets. Swallow Business Park in Hailsham is mostly let with only approximately 15,000 sq ft of the total 40,000 sq ft now available. Billingshurst Trade Park is now built, with most of the 50,000 sq ft committed and Lineside Industrial Estate is receiving a great deal of interest in the four units available, totalling 13,222 sq ft.

Finally on the Sussex Coast, 25,000 sq ft at Phase 4 at Swallow Business Park, Hailsham, has been pre-let for the Martlett Group and spec build at Phase 5 has commenced which provides smaller units from 1,600 sq ft and totals 105,000 sq ft.

Further much needed space (399,510 sq ft) will come to the market this year at Panattoni Park in Shoreham (278,000 sq ft), starting on site in February. Chichester City Council are building 23,510 sq ft of new industrial space at St James Industrial Estate on Westhampnett Rd, Chichester, offering 10 units to let with PC in Jan 2023; Worthing Council are in planning for 38,000 sq ft of small sheds up to 3,500 sq ft and Swallow Business Park in Hailsham will bring forward a further 60,000 sq ft.

Tim Hardwicke, Partner and Head of Agency at SHW, says: “We are delighted to be working with a mixture of private and public sector landlords to bring forward much needed industrial space across the South East to cater for a variety occupiers, offering a range of sizes and locations to suit.

“As you would expect, we have good interest across the board and look forward to announcing further development milestones and successful lettings this year.”

LOGICOR STRENGTHENS UK ASSET MANAGEMENT TEAM

Logicor, a leading owner and manager of logistics real estate in Europe, has strengthened its UK Asset Management expertise, welcoming Matthew Storr to its UK team as Director, Project Management.

Having started his property career as a Surveyor with Bollingbrook (now part of Colliers), before moving to CBRE, Matthew has over 15 years’ experience in commercial real estate, most recently working with multi-unit industrial property developer Chancerygate, where he was a Director in the Project Management team. 

Specialising in the delivery of industrial and logistics premises across the UK, Matthew will be working alongside Technical Management Director, Samuel Towers, UK Technical Manager Oliver Hayes and Logicor’s wider UK Asset Management team, Matthew will be assisting the fulfilment of Logicor’s development pipeline across the UK.

Matthew Storr, UK Director, Project Management says: “I’m delighted to be joining the Logicor team as Director, Project Management. This is an exciting time for the company and I am really looking forward to working on the large pipeline of development projects in the UK portfolio.” 

Charlie Howard, Logicor’s UK Managing Director, says: “As we continue to grow our UK portfolio with acquisitions and increasing our developments, delivering a high-quality product is more important than ever, and Matt’s in-depth experience of the market will provide invaluable support to the team across the UK.”