UK Insights: Commercial Markets Update

By Carter Jonas, UK
 
In their 2021 Commercial Edge research report, our member Carter Jonas (UK) takes stock of how their regional commercial markets fared in 2020 and the outlook in each for offices, industrial and retail, as we enter the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (also as LinkedIn caption).
 
Sector highlights from the report:
 
Office
Office take-up across our regional Commercial Edge cities in 2020 was a third below the 10-year average, and in line with the low point of 2009 following the global financial crisis. However, some locations fared reasonably well, with Bristol city centre take-up only 12% below the 10-year average, and Bath seeing a 35% increase compared with 2019.
 
Industrial
Occupier demand across the UK was exceptionally strong in 2020. Bristol and Leeds saw take-up well ahead of 2019, and Cambridge was in line with the 2019 level. There has been a trend towards more 1 million sq ft+ units and increased eaves heights, with Amazon taking several units in this size category. This is putting greater pressure on site availability, with limited sites of sufficient size.
 
Retail
The shifting and unpredictable nature of social distancing restrictions has continued to hamper the physical retail sector, and the third lockdown in England is clearly a further major setback, especially following the closures of non-essential retail and hospitality in many areas over the festive period.
 
Click here to continue reading the report.

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