According to a new survey by the Cushman & Wakefield commercial real-estate company, the take-up of industrial property in the Midlands fell in the first half of this year.

In the six months to the end of June, 13 deals involving industrial/warehouse properties of 100,000 sq. ft. or larger took place in the East and West Midlands, totalling 2.39 million sq. ft.

This compares with a similar number of deals last year (15), but there has been a significant decline in the floorspace involved — down from 4.06 million sq. ft. in the same period of 2013.

The reason for this reduction is the lack of available stock, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

David Binks (pictured), industrial partner at the company’s Birmingham office, said: “As we know, 2012 saw a high take-up of space across the region, mainly in the design-and-build market, as last year we were limited by a lack of grade-A stock above 100,000 sq. ft.

“We are now experiencing a lack of stock across all grades, including grade-B and grade-C, which is having an effect on the number of transactions and the amount of floor space.”