Flatliners
Haslams has released its annual ‘sci fi’ themed Industrial Market update for Reading, writes Neil Seager.
There is also an eBook available comprising the reports from 2014-2019 with a foreword which takes the reader through the industrial property and sci-fi journey.
The title of this year’s report sums up the year pretty well. The political paralysis meant a good proportion of the year was lost. Occupiers in particular sat on their hands until the political situation became clearer in December when finally business decisions started to be made. Unfortunately it was too late to save the year but Haslams is pleased to report the start of a bounce going into the new year. Market fundamentals remain in place with limited supply and strong demand streams such as; hi tech manufacturing, parcel delivery and supply chain management. While BREXIT cannot be ignored and does create some caution, at least now the market knows the direction of travel.
Developers continue to see opportunity and as a result Reading will see a large spike in supply as developments come forward. Noticeably, McKay Securities’ 135,000 sq ft will lead the charge with completion due in quarter one. Shortly behind will see new developments in the next 12 months by Total Developments at Theale, Arlington at Junction 11 and Panattoni at Junction 12.
Haslams hopes the new schemes will provide local authorities with a greater understanding of industrial and logistics property. Its development is a vital part of a regions growth particularly when other sectors suffer a downturn. They do though highlight the need for streamlining utility provision. It can be a barrier to inward investment and failure to meet this challenge could result in businesses opting for bases abroad. Building service engineers JDP provide a useful summary of the current challenges within the report.
Investment in the Reading property market after record levels in 2018 was limited. Across the UK industrial investment transactions were also down by approximately 25% (Property Data Jan 2020). Given the political uncertainty investors focused on prime stocks where yields held up. Conversely yields for secondary stock moved out slightly albeit the industrial sector remains the sector of choice for the majority of institutions and foreign investors.
The full report Flatliners and a copy an eBook It’s Industrial Property...But Not As We Know It containing previous years reports (2014-2019) are available from Tanya Le Sueur: [email protected]
For further information contact:
Neil Seager
0118 9211515
