West Midlands bucks national trend

The West Midlands is one of only two regions which has outperformed the national trend for commercial absorption rates in each of the three sectors looked at in this Radius Data Exchange analysis of UK commercial activity. It ranks as the most constrained region by this metric for office and industrial supply with just 2.1 years’ worth of stock remaining in both sectors, against national average figures of 3.2 years and 2.8 years respectively. In the office market, the region also boasts the greatest amount of space currently under-offer outside London – which, when factored into this analysis, means that it actually only has 1.9 years’ worth of standing office stock currently being actively marketed. Developers have already begun to react to this trend, with the last year seeing 20% more space permitted than in the preceding twelve months against a national average rise of 3%, according to Radius planning data. In the retail sector, the region is the fourth-most constrained by current supply against demand rates, with 2.5 years’ worth of stock remaining, with retail developers not quite as reticent to build here as other areas of the country. Planning permissions were only down 17% for retail space year-on-year against a national average drop of 39% – and only the North East performed better than the West Midlands by this metric. To send feedback, e-mail graham.shone@egi.co.uk or tweet @GShoneEG or @estatesgazette To find out more about Radius Data Exchange, visit www.egi.co.uk/radiusdx