The United Kingdom’s appeal as a European hub for life sciences has been underlined with new figures released by Knight Frank showing take-up in the “Golden Triangle” UK market was 186,000 square feet (17,300 square metres) in the first quarter of 2024 — an increase of 25 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

The firm says life sciences take-up in Oxford was some 142,000 square feet (13,200 square metres) in the first quarter, 215 percent above the five-year average and up more than 900 percent compared with the previous quarter. London take-up increased by 48 percent to 23,500 square feet (2,200 square metres), while Cambridge take-up actually decreased by 86 percent quarter-on-quarter to 20,000 square feet (1,860 square metres).

Knight Frank says demand across the Golden Triangle for life sciences lab space stands at some 1.66 million square feet (154,200 square metres), indicative of resilient requirements from life sciences occupiers for lab space in