45msf of UK industrial & logistics take-up in 2022

About 45 million square feet of space was leased in the U.K. industrial & logistics sector throughout 2022, according to Knight Frank. This figure is lower than the record-breaking 70 million square feet of take-up in 2021 but remains 8 percent above the 10-year sector average.

Take-up in fourth quarter 2022 was 7.2 million square feet, continuing the trend of slowing take-up since the peak of 21.5 million square feet in third quarter 2021, due in part to a lack of availability in key markets. Vacancy rates also have risen from 3.2 percent at the end of 2021 to 3.7 percent as of fourth quarter 2022 but remain below the 5.2 percent vacancy rate recorded pre-pandemic. That reflects the resilience of occupier demand, driven in part by structural changes to the retail market and the rise of ecommerce. At the end of 2020, the U.K. logistics vacancy rate was 4.4 percent, and at the same point in 2012 it sat at 12.5 percent.

In response to high levels of demand from indus