UK regions and warehouse projects the strongest areas of expansion, according to latest Savills survey

Office building

Growth in the UK commercial sector slowed in July, according to the latest Savills Total Commercial Development Activity Index.

On balance +18.9% of developers saw an increase in commercial activity in July, down from a four-month high of +30.7% in April.

The degree of confidence among developers also weakened to a 13-month low, with a net balance of +18.9% expecting commercial work to increase over the next three months, down from +29.7% the previous month.

However all nine sub-sectors monitored by the survey posted a rise in activity, led by industrial warehouses. The slowest increase was registered on public office activity.

Commercial activity also continued to increase across all three monitored regions during July. The South-east saw an accelerated rate of growth, with the net balance improving to a four-month high of +32.8%, while the ‘Rest of the UK’ remained the best performing with a net balance of +34.4%.

London saw a marked deceleration of growth, with the respective net balance slipping to +17.4% (from +24.1%).

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