Industrial Land Studies

The London Plan seeks to ensure that enough development capacity is available to meet industry's genuine needs and that surplus land is put into more effective use, especially for housing. Research has been commissioned by the GLA to assess supply and demand for industrial land in London. This suite of Industrial Land Studies has been used to inform the draft Further Alterations to the London Plan.

Industrial Land Release Benchmarks
Demand and Supply of Land for Logistics in London
North East and South East London Industrial Land Baseline
London Wholesale Markets Review
Borough Level Waste Apportionment

The views expressed in these reports are those of the consultants and do not necessarily represent those of the Greater London Authority.

Industrial Land Release Benchmarks

The London Plan seeks to ensure that enough development capacity is available to meet industry's genuine needs and that surplus land is put into more effective use, especially for housing.

This study updates the benchmarks for the management of industrial land across London in light of new employment projections and other GLA research projects including the provision of efficient logistics capacity (see Demand and Supply of Land for Logistics in London report, below), waste apportionment and wholesale markets. Together these studies will inform discussion at the Examination in Public into draft Further Alterations to the London Plan. The research utilises more robust supply side estimates than were available for previous strategic studies including detailed survey data from the North East and South East London Industrial Land Baseline (see report below).

The study recommends a monitoring benchmark of 814 hectares of industrial land release in London over the period 2006-2026 or 41 ha per annum. With rigorous management of vacancy rates the annual average release is likely to be higher (48 hectares) in the earlier phase 2006-2016 reducing to 31 hectares per annum in the latter phase, 2016-2026. To complement the quantitative benchmarks, the study also provides qualitative indicators for the management of industrial land for all London boroughs.

Industrial Land Release Benchmarks PDF
Industrial Land Release Benchmarks RTF

Demand and Supply of Land for Logistics in London

The draft London Freight Plan (2006) published by Transport for London anticipates that the demand for goods and services in London will rise by 12% to 15% between 2006 and 2026. The logistics sector manages the delivery of these goods and services and is an increasingly important functional element of London’s economy as recognised in draft Further Alterations to the London Plan.

This report by URS Corporation projects the demand for land for logistics or warehousing land through to 2026 and puts forward options for accommodating demand in a sustainable and efficient manner. The research feeds into parallel GLA studies on Industrial Land Release Benchmarks (see report above) and draws on more up to date supply side data including the North East and South East London Industrial Land Baseline. (see report below).

The research estimates that there are around 16 million square metres of warehousing floorspace and around 2,800 hectares of warehousing land in 2006 with growth mostly focussed in the outer boroughs of London. There is anticipated to be demand for an additional 461 hectares of land for warehousing in London between 2006 and 2026, mostly concentrated in North East, South East and West London sub-regions. The study emphasises that planning policy must recognise the critical role of the logistics sector in securing London’s continued and sustainable economic growth.

Demand and Supply of Land for Logistics in London PDF
Demand and Supply of Land for Logistics in London RTF

North East and South East London Industrial Land Baseline

The London Plan emphasises the need to manage and reconcile the supply and demand of industrial land taking into account industry’s requirements and releasing surplus land to meet strategic and local requirements for other uses including housing. This research provides a robust baseline for monitoring the industrial land supply in the North East and South London sub-regions where much of London’s surplus capacity is concentrated. It provides a key input into a range of related studies including the Industrial Land Release Benchmarks, Demand and Supply of Land for Logistics in London (see reports above), Waste Apportionment and a review of wholesale markets.

This study included field survey work and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping. It estimates that in 2006 there are 3,245 hectares of land in industrial and related uses (such as logistics, utilities, waste management and transport). Based upon a narrower definition of industrial land comprising light/general industrial, warehousing and vacant industrial land the report estimates a total of almost 2,500 hectares in 2006, a reduction of around 280 hectares since 2001. PDFs of mapped industrial land referred to in the report are available on CD from the Publication Sales Officer.

North East and South East London Industrial Land Baseline PDF
North East and South East London Industrial Land Baseline RTF

London Wholesale Markets Review

The London Wholesale Markets Review is one of a series of related studies undertaken by URS into the demand and supply of industrial land in London to inform the draft Further Alterations into the London Plan.

London's five wholesale markets at New Covent Garden, New Spitalfields, Western International, Smithfield and Billingsgate have experienced changes to their historic roles with increasing competition from supermarkets and more efficient distribution systems. This has, however, partly been offset by the increase of eating out creating demand for goods from the markets. Together with changing sources of demand, technology and logistics, a thorough understanding of the changing roles of the markets is an important element of the overall changes in demand for industrial land in London and the results of this study have been incorporated into the London Industrial Land Release Benchmarks Study.

Together with a related transport survey into the implication of changes to London's wholesaling capacity commissioned by Transport for London (London Wholesale Markets Freight Study to be published Summer 2007), the London Wholesale Markets Review:

tests the scale and nature of likely future demand;
tests the optimum distribution of wholesaling capacity in terms of overall London Plan objectives;
tests these options against factors and strategic and local objectives;
provides recommendations to secure an efficient food wholesaling function, ensure sites are used effectively and contribute to strategic objectives and that related transport logistics are carried out sustainably.

London Wholesale Markets Review PDF
London Wholesale Markets Review RTF

Printed copies of the reports are available for purchase from the Publication Sales Officer.

Planning and Development

What is the Mayor doing?

�