Industrials REIT , the UK multi-let industrial (“MLI”) property company, today publishes a trading update on its MLI portfolio for the period 1 October 2022 to 31 December 2022 and up-to-date rent collection across the Company’s whole portfolio.

Commenting on the trading update Paul Arenson, CEO of Industrials REIT, said: “The MLI market finished 2022 on a strong footing, with high demand, limited supply and the affordability of our high-quality space translating into a 31% average uplift in rent at renewal or reletting. New lettings were particularly strong this quarter, with average rental uplifts of 36% compared to that paid by the previous tenant, whilst lease terms and incentives remain unchanged. This helped push like-for-like passing rents for the total portfolio up 5.0% over the last 12 months, during which time Estimated Rental Values (“ERVs”) have grown 10.5%, creating potential for strong rental uplifts between letting or renewal in future. Whilst occupancy fell 0.4% during the quarter, we believe that the continued strength of tenant demand and rental growth in the quarter means this is not an indicator of a trend at this stage.

“We also enter the first quarter of 2023 with a strong pipeline of lettings under offer on the back of another busy period of enquiries and viewings. Our Industrials Hive platform continues to generate demand via our industrials.co.uk website (visitors +15.4% year on year), whilst our dedicated sales team has continued to convert enquiries into viewings and lettings with increased efficiency.

“Investment activity in the last quarter of 2022 remained muted when compared to previous years, with DTRE reporting total MLI transaction volumes down 23% when compared with the same period last year. Despite this, there remains plenty of capital seeking MLI investment opportunities at a repriced level and increasing evidence of vendors adjusting their expectations. We continue to watch the market carefully and believe that attractive and accretive acquisition opportunities will emerge as we move through the first half of 2023.

“Overall, customer demand for MLI remains strong and we continue to lease space at attractive rents with minimal incentives. We remain cautious that the trading environment may become more difficult as we progress through 2023, but to date we have seen limited evidence of this in our portfolio.”