There’s strong business demand for energy efficient stock in Surrey, meaning there is an opportunity for a developer willing to plug the gap.
That is according to Maria Hoadley, a partner specialising in industrial property based at property consultancy Vail Williams’ office in Woking.
She said: “Thanks to the challenges of the last 18 months where build costs reached eyewatering levels and the general political and economic landscape made industrial development more questionable, we now have an industrial supply gap within certain locations in the Surrey area.
“This is particularly true for quality units in the sub-10,000 sq ft category which boast the ESG credentials necessary to attract occupiers.”
Hoadley championed industrial locations such as Chertsey, Staines, Egham, West Byfleet, Weybridge and Woking for having good transport links, providing access to Heathrow Airport and the M25.
Hoadley added: “Our message to Surrey industrial property landlords is that there is absolutely demand here.
“If you have a secondary or tertiary asset and invest in it to deliver a quality product back to market, with EPC ratings of B and above and good or excellent BREEAM ratings, your asset will let – and at strong rental levels.
“For industrial occupiers seeking a value for money location in the south east, Surrey should be on your geographical radar, particularly if you want to be close to the M25 and/or Heathrow Airport, but don’t want to pay the rents that come with locating in Heathrow.
“Meanwhile, for those developers that have been trying to make viability stack up and will need to see land values and development costs level out a little more in order to take that next step here, our message is that if you build it, they will come.”
The majority of deals this year were transacted in Guildford, Camberley and Farnborough for smaller units in the sub-10,000 sq ft, because existing occupiers in the Surrey industrial market were SMEs, start-ups or family-run businesses with smaller requirements – hence the average size of unit let in Surrey being approximately 7,000 sq ft.
Developments in Weybridge, Coulsdon and Egham provide larger premises, while the supply of smaller units was good at Chertsey Industrial Estate, Causeway Central in Staines and Chertsey Industrial Park.
