Amazon expansion pushes North East logistics take-up to record high

The North East had a record year for logistics property take-up in 2018, with deals completed on six million sq ft of space.

New research from Cushman & Wakefield puts the region ahead of the North West, which saw deals transacted on 5.7 million sq ft, but behind the East Midlands (6.9 million) and South East/East (7.4).

The North East’s six million sq ft figure is around 140% more than the previous record of 2.5 million, set in 2015.

Some of the largest deals were down to Amazon expanding its presence in the region.

In Q3, the ecommerce giant let 1.5 million sq ft for a fulfillment centre in Darlington, followed by 1.99 million sq ft at Durham’s Integra 61 development in Q4.

Of the region’s six million sq ft annual total, half (three million) was transacted during the last quarter of the year.

Richard Scott, partner in the logistics and industrial at team at Cushman & Wakefield’s Newcastle office, said of the findings: “2018 was a record year for take-up in the North East and shows the continuing strength of the market despite the economic uncertainty around Brexit.

“There continues to be a severely restricted supply and due to this we expect rents to continue rising in 2019.”

He added: “There were also three significant pre-lets in 2018 and given the current lack of stock we expect more will be announced in the next 12 months.”

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