Locate in Kent, Kent and Medway’s investment agency, maintains a client database that holds details of the property requirements of companies looking to relocate to or expand in Kent. It also maintains a web-based commercial property database that provides a good indication of Kent & Medway’s commercial property supply.
Property demand
Between April 2006 and March 2007, 236 new projects were logged by Locate in Kent, of which 175 had known property or land requirements, 83 for industrial property, 81 for office accommodation and 11 for land. At the end of June 2007, there were 269 active projects. Of these, 224 had a potential requirement for property of up to a total of 356,033m² (3,832,338ft²).
By the end of the year, a total of 72 companies had been successfully assisted by Locate in Kent to invest in Kent and Medway, of which 59 had a new or additional property requirement. The total area of property occupied was 97,3904m² (1,048,308ft²), which was an average take-up of 1,651m² (17,768ft²).
During the first quarter of 2007-2008, a further 13,365m² (143,858ft²) was occupied by 20 companies (eight office and 12 industrial) with take-up of industrial property continuing to dominate at 88% of total property occupied.
With a similar number of office projects to June 2006, total potential demand for office space in June 2007 reached 80,615m² (867,745ft²). 89 companies made 160 area enquiries for office property. The highest demand (29% of area enquiries) was in Channel Corridor, followed closely by West Kent (25%), with Thames Gateway and East Kent both on 23%.
A total of 116 companies sought industrial property in Kent and Medway. They made 212 area enquiries, which led to demand for industrial space of 418,646m² (4,506,310ft²). 27% of area enquiries for industrial properties were in Channel Corridor. Thames Gateway and East Kent each had a 25% share and 22% of the area enquiries were for West Kent.
As in 2006, smaller office properties continued to be the most sought after throughout Kent & Medway. The average minimum size requirement was 616m² (6,636ft²) in 2007 compared to 773m² (8,317ft²) in 2006. 71% of office demand was for properties of under 464m2 (5,000ft²).
Demand for industrial property remained at virtually the same level in 2007 compared to 2006. Demand in 2006 was 1,722,546ft² (160,028m²), compared to 1,743,940ft² (162,016m²) in 2007.
Smaller sized industrial properties continued to be the most popular. In 2006, the most popular size (38% of total) was 93-464m² (1,001-5,000ft²), whereas in 2007, the most popular size (28% of total) was 0-93m² (0-1,000ft²).
Among office projects, business services and financial services accounted for 51% of all office demand (28% and 23% respectively), but the average size of financial services property demand was more than twice that for business services demand (average of 1,860m² for the financial services sector compared to 824m² for the business services sector). Other significant sectors requiring office space included public services and transport and logistics followed by construction and property and ICT.
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Locate in Kent deals with a wide variety of companies from a number of different industry sectors. At the end of June 2007 industrial demand was dominated by five sectors - manufacturing, transport and logistics, retail and wholesale, construction and property and food and agriculture. At the end of June 2007, these five sectors represented 79% of the industrial demand for property (128,697m²).
Property Supply
At the end of June 2007, a total of 1,111 properties were registered on Locate in Kent’s property database, compared to 915 at the end of June 2006. 56% of these were industrial properties, almost the same proportion as in 2006.
The greatest number of properties overall were available in Thames Gateway and the Channel Corridor (28% and 29% of the Kent total respectively). Thames Gateway offered the greatest number of industrial properties (36%), but had only 19% of office properties, compared to Channel Corridor, which had 34% of office properties and 25% of industrial properties. East Kent had 23% of industrial properties and 24% of office properties and West Kent had 16% of industrial properties and 23% of office properties.
As in 2005 and 2006, at the end of June 2007, nearly 90% of the office properties available were at the smaller end of the range - under 464m² (5,000ft²).
For industrial properties, as for office properties, the most commonly available sizes were at the lower end of the size scale, with property under 464m² (5,000ft²) accounting for almost two thirds (64%) of all available industrial properties.
Major successes
Office take-up during 2006-7 included the MHS Homes relocation to 7,432m² (79,998ft²) of office accommodation at Chatham Maritime, Sterling Insurance’s expansion in West Malling to 4,645m² (49,998ft²) of office accommodation and Cabot’s new 4,061m² (43,717ft²) operation at Kings Hill, West Malling.
Industrial take-up during 2006-7 included Whirlpool (UK) Ltd’s relocation to 22,899m² (246,484ft²) of property in Tonbridge and Malling, Cummins Power Generation Ltd’s expansion into 15,886m² (170,997ft²) of property at Manston Business Park in Thanet, Veetee Food’s 7,432m² (79,998ft²) new operation at Medway City Estate, Howard Hunt Group’s expansion into 4,645m² (49,998ft²) of property in Dartford, Aldi Store’s planned new 5,249m² (56,500ft²) regional distribution centre on the Isle of Sheppey and Silent Gliss’s expansion into 5,800m² (62,432ft²) of property at Pyramid Business Park in Broadstairs.
Property
demand by area, June 2007
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Property
demand by size range, June 2007
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Property
demand by sector, June 2007
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Property
supply by area, June 2007
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Property
supply by size bracket, June 2007
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