EG: Leisure Property Leads the Way in 2020 Sector Enquiries

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EG, a market-leading supplier of data, news and analytics products and services for the commercial real estate market, has announced the findings of its latest EG Propertylink Occupier Sentiment Report 'Bucking the trend: How 2020 could predict behaviour in 2021'.

Enquiry data gathered from EG Propertylink shows that while the first lockdown of 2020 dramatically impacted enquiries for commercial property it was searches for leisure and retail space which saw the biggest increase once restrictions started to lift.

Key findings from the report include:

- Between the first and second lockdown (June to October) enquiries for property in the leisure sector rose by 64%. This was closely followed by retail and office enquiries which grew by 62% and 56% respectively.

- Enquiry data for 3 out of 4 key London commuter towns examined in the report shows that enquiries for retail property as a proportion of total property searches increased in November compared to January.

- Brighton saw the biggest increase with retail property searches making up 68% of the total enquiries in November compared to 46% in January. In Reading the figure was 38% vs 21% and St Albans 41% vs 30%.

The report also compares search data for all commercial property sectors within London, Cardiff and Edinburgh who all took different approaches to restrictions after the first lockdown, but which saw the biggest increase in enquiries between the first and second lockdown.

Oxford and Cambridge were among the universities to come under the spotlight in the race to develop a vaccine, however similarities in searches for commercial space diverged and it was a case of town vs county.

David Salisbury, Propertylink Group Head, said: ‘Once the initial lockdown measures were eased, we experienced extraordinary levels of interest in commercial property last year. With the increasing reliance on online shopping, the demand for distribution centres and warehouses was expected but the speed with which interest in retail and leisure premises surged was a huge surprise. Searches for space in these sectors and the increased demand for more space away from city centres help to paint a picture of where demand is headed in 2021.’

To discover which capitals came out on top and how home counties differed in performance, download the report.

About EG

EG is a market-leading provider of data, news and analytics products and services to the commercial real estate market. EG products and services address the challenges and the data demands of all sectors and industries within UK commercial real estate. We deliver industry-leading events and weekly magazine content, and market leading data products including EG Radius, the only contributory data sharing platform for the UK commercial property market.

# # #