In this monthly update, EG uses unique data from its Propertylink listings site to understand which sectors are most in demand from UK occupiers and where across the country is being enquired-after most.
The figures show the percentages of enquiries across various sectors and locations and reflect instances of users actively choosing to phone or email the company advertising each property.
Sector overview
Industrial remains the sector attracting the most interest, with 43.5% of enquiries in June, although compared with the previous month the gap between it and retail has more than halved, from 5 to just 2.2 percentage points.
Enquiries for industrial stock were at their peak in March, when the sector accounted for 47% of searches on Propertylink, as retail and offices stood at a respective 39.1% and 13.9%
Offices are at their highest level since the start of the year and now stand above 15% for the first time in 2024.
Sector demand by region
The South East, Greater London and the East of England dominate across all sectors. For the first time this year, Greater London has overtaken the South East as the region attracting the most office searches on Propertylink, in sharp contrast to January, when the latter had an 8.3 percentage point lead which has been steadily closing ever since. The biggest falls in enquiries were seen in Scotland (down by 3.7 percentage points) and the East Midlands (down by 1.3 points).
The gap for industrial demand between the South East and Greater London has also been shrinking and now stands at less than 1 percentage point following the former’s 3.1 point advantage in January. The East of England and Scotland have witnessed healthy month-on-month upswings (both of 1.2 percentage points), while interest appears to have dipped in Yorkshire (down by 0.7 points) as well as in the West Midlands (down by 3.3 points) and the East Midlands (down by 3 points) compared with May.
In retail, the South East has put increasing daylight between it and the rest of the market, with a 3.6 percentage point lead over its closest rival, Greater London, in June. Meanwhile, demand has risen by almost 2 percentage points month-on-month in the North West. Among those regions seeing declining numbers of Propertylink enquires between May and June were the South West (down by 1.8 percentage points) and the West Midlands (down by 1.3 points).
Regional cities
Ignoring London, Glasgow was the most enquired-after UK city in June, attracting more than 15% of all searches on Propertylink outside the capital, which is its highest standing of the year to date. Edinburgh was the second most searched for, with just Bristol and Birmingham joining it in the club of cities above 8%.
Key movers
Glasgow and Edinburgh swapped places in the figures this year, with the former enjoying a month-on-month increase in Propertylink enquiries of more than 4 percentage points as the latter went in the opposite direction by a similar amount.
Interest in Birmingham has fluctuated this year and the number of searches fell by 2.7 percentage points compared with May in what was a tough period for the Midlands, with Leicester, Nottingham and Coventry also witnessing drops.
Liverpool witnessed a 3.3 point increase in enquiries over the same period, while other northern cities such as Manchester and Sheffield also moved up.
On the south coast, Brighton saw a 2 point increase against May, while Southampton also went up as local rival Portsmouth moved in the opposite direction.
EG’s demand insights are powered by activity across our industry-leading commercial property listings platform – Propertylink
Main photo © Analogicus/Pixabay
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