Space Age

As demand for online shopping continues to grow, warehouse space is at an all-time high. This year data has revealed a record amount of space has been let this in London and the South East.

Warehouse landlords have benefited from soaring demand in 2020, as many retailers have needed extra storage and distribution space to cope with more online orders during the pandemic, and firms continue to report online growth. Meanwhile, a number of firms have concerns about delays at borders impacting moving products in and out of Britain in a no-deal Brexit scenario. This has prompted companies to seek extra space to stockpile some products.

Research from property agent Knight Frank, looking at deals of 50,000 square feet and over, estimates take-up of warehouse space in the capital and South East will exceed 11.7 million square feet in 2020.

Last year 8.1 million square feet was signed for. As Charles Binks, head of industrial and logistics at Knight Frank, states: "There are some examples of companies increasing their storage capacity in order to minimise Brexit impacts.” He added that his company is “seeing rising demand for space from online retailers seeking to expand their networks and capture share in a growing market”.