Finally, there are some glimmers of hope out in the shed market. With the UK’s economy growing again, albeit very slowly, DTZ’s latest UK industrial 2010 report shows that the overall volume of available space fell in the second quarter. The report states that “this was due to strong levels of grade A take-up and a reduced rate of return of grade B and C stock”. Meanwhile, take-up in the first half of 2010 was up by 43% against the first half of 2009.
While positive news is good for the market, this march out of recession is still not on a sure footing. When one area in the sector goes up, another inevitably goes down. And the one area that is see-sawing is strategic rail freight interchanges – SRFIs – (page 11). In July, HelioSlough was again refused permission for its Radlett scheme at St Albans, a decision it is contesting, while other projects have fallen foul of the recession – namely ProLogis’ scheme at Howbury, near Bexley in Kent.
Rail schemes, tipped a few years ago as being one of the most important development areas for the UK’s logistics market, have also been hailed as being environmentally friendly. But until everyone finds out exactly what it would take to make an SRFI succeed, either in clinching planning permission or the deals they would need to get them off the ground, they are going to remain the industry’s great unknown quantity.
“Green” also remains the buzz word for the next generation of sheds (page 18). SRFIs may be getting the bum’s rush, but everyone wants environmentally sound buildings. The industry believes that it is now time for everyone to make the commitment to be more “green”. With tantalising phrases such as “good long-term payback” and “keen investor interest”, it seems that the momentum required to achieve this has not been dampened by the recession. So, what the recession takes away in one respect, it is also giving back. However, the key is in striking the right balance between the two.
Noella Pio Kivlehan
Markets Editor
