Northern West Midlands

The Northern West Midlands is arguably one of the best locations in the UK to locate a national distribution centre, with 88% of the country within a 4.5-hour HGV drive time, and easy national access via the M6. The strategic location and history of strong occupier activity means that many developers are confident in speculatively developing across the region. There are several schemes to watch in this region which can deliver new stock, notably in locations such as Stoke, Tamworth and Lichfield.

The region’s excellent transport networks enticed several online retailers to commit to space in this region in 2020, including ASOS, AO.com and Super Smart. Developers have responded to this uptick in occupier demand and are on site speculatively in locations like Lichfield and Tamworth, although the region’s availability rate was largely unaffected at year-end, staying at 7.3%. Occupiers have preferred up-and-built stock rather than sign pre-lets in this region in 2020 and as such, the speculative schemes that have been delivered attract above average levels of occupier interest. By its own standards, the volume of investment in the region was weak in 2020, due to a lack of available investible stock rather than any waning in investor demand. We forecast an above average 1.7% rental growth over the next 3 years in the region as the speculative schemes, especially the mid-box units, attract an elevated rental profile. Demand is running above average and availability rates remain low in most centres, so there is scope for new schemes to attract elevated rents.