The UK population is growing and so is the number of properties being built to accommodate them. Logistics connects the dots when it comes to getting goods to consumers, but are warehouses being prioritised or overlooked?
This year we have once again sponsored Logistics Manager’s roundtable to look at the impact of UK trends on the logistics property market.
The Government has plans to build 300,000 new homes in England this year and every of those home owners will need a job, groceries, clothing and other consumer products. It has been estimated that to meet this demand would require and an additional 21 million sq ft of warehouse every year. So how can the threat of a warehouse shortage be remedied?
“Those homes will generate further demand,” said db symmetry director Christian Matthews. “The equation is that there is 69 sq ft per new home required in terms of new logistics space.” Whether this demand is met or not is in part down to the planning system, he adds. Total take up last year was around 31 million sq ft and in 2017 it was just shy of 30 million sq ft. ‘Logistics is the glue that binds every aspect of UK Plc together and if we want a successful economy then Central Government needs to recognise this and reflect this in it’s policies that will then filter down to local government and their planning departments’.
Read the full article here.