What is the cry heard in Yorkshire and many other parts of the UK? We are running out of prime office and industrial space.
Please, Mr Developer, get on with what you do best and build more offices and industrial buildings. It is happening, to some extent, but the current shortage is sure to put a brake on economic expansion.
The developer’s caution is, perhaps, understandable. When they are doing well (particularly the house builders) they are accused of being greedy tycoons who are ruining the countryside and major cities.
They face convoluted planning processes and until recently the banks had turned off the cash for development. Yet the profits are there for them.
Yorkshire is a prime example of this situation. Industrial lettings fell earlier this year because there was not enough suitable space. But Knight Frank say that will change with new schemes and we must all hope so. There is around four years’ office supply in Leeds at the moment, but that is dwindling fast.
The healthiest aspect of the market in Yorkshire is that some cities, notably Sheffield, have a better balanced and more active office market. There are signs of improvement in Bradford too.
What is clear from Yorkshire and so many other parts of the UK is that the recent recession had a deep seated and traumatic impact on the business life of the country and the recovery has, therefore, been that much harder and drawn out.