Warehouse take up hits 12.5 million ft2 in first quarter 2026
Take up of warehouses totalling 50,000 ft2 plus across the UK hit 12.5 million ft2 in the first quarter of 2026 according to research by Newmark.
By Liza Helps, Property Editor, Logistics Matters
NEWMARK’s INDUSTRIAL & Logistics Analytics partner Will Laing said: “Demand’s coming from across logistics, e-commerce and food sectors, and with so little speculative space being built, we expect supply to tighten even further through 2026.
“Rising costs are definitely front of mind for occupiers, but the push for more efficient, future-fit buildings is still driving deals.”
Taking a closer look just at the Big Box market (100,000 ft2 plus) DTRE also notes a strong start to the year with 7.45 million ft2 taken up with 4.7 million ft2 transacted in March alone since the beginning of th US-Iran war. “Occupiers continue to make decisions , rather than defer them.”
Both DTRE and Newmark note that the speculative development pipeline is tightening fast with just 5.76 million ft2 under construction in Bib Box units of 100,000 ft2 plus vs a 10 -year average of some 11 million ft2.
