Although this is down 35% on H1 2023, Savills confirms there has been an uptick in enquiries over the last two months, resulting in 24% of the vacant supply to be placed under offer.

Savills research shows that the supply of warehouse space in the North West has risen by 12% in the past 12 months, now standing at 6.28m sq ft. However, despite this increase, using the five-year annual average take-up, this still only equates to 1.15 years’ worth of supply. Savills monthly analysis suggests that the supply of warehouse space is now past the peak, which occurred in February of this year.

In terms of available space, 45% is grade A speculatively developed units, 16% is second-hand grade A space, 18% is grade B, and the remaining 21% is low-quality grade C, which is arguably better suited for redevelopment. Savills notes that the majority of the supply consists of smaller units, leading occupiers seeking large developments to pursue build-to-suit (BTS) options.

At present there are currently 11 units being speculatively developed, totalling 2.65m sq ft.

The report also shows that manufacturers have dominated activity in H1 2024, accounting for 80% of all activity followed by wholesalers at 20%.

Jon Atherton, director in the industrial & logistics team at Savills Manchester, comments: “Whilst the North West has continued to see an increase in supply of warehouse space across the region, we believe that the vacancy rate is set to fall imminently. Savills vacancy rate model, which has analysed lease events, potential tenant failures, and the future development pipeline, indicates that the vacancy rate peaked in February at the predicted 7.01%. We now expect this to fall below 6.5% by the end of the year, due to a lack of new development announcements and minimal risk of tenant failures in the region.”