The UK shopping centre development pipeline currently stands at 9.6m sq ft to the end of 2018, according to research published today by DTZ.
This figure consists of schemes that are either under construction or with consent and likely to proceed.
The pipeline increases by 15.9m sq ft when looking at all schemes to 2021, including those that may not necessarily go ahead or have timescales that are subject to change.
There are nine schemes under construction and due to open in the remainder of 2015, totalling approximately 1.8m sq ft.
The largest of these is Westfield Bradford, totaling 570,000 sq ft, brought forward by Meyer Bergman and Westfield.
John Percy, head of retail development at DTZ, said: “The outlook for retail property development is improving as investor risk appetite moves outward and the size of the pipeline is testament to this. The trend, however, is for mixed-used city schemes incorporating residential, retail and leisure.”
Jonathan Rumsey, head of retail market analysis at DTZ, said: “Occupationally, retailers are acting positively by making strategic occupational property direction decisions against a strong macro-economic position. This positivity has seen the list of retailers acquiring floorspace continue to grow, examples of this trend being new entrant Pep & Co and Ikea.”
