8 ... continued


Accommodation: Residential, Office and Industrial


Notably, those town-centre high- rise projects are residential-led, and a swathe of newbuild homes is also underway or planned south of the M4 roughly between Reading’s main M4 junctions 11 and 12.


Reading’s grade-A office accommodation offering has improved significantly with the likes of Thames Tower, R+, The White Building, Nine Greyfriars, and Forbury area premises now gaining major occupancy, with a similar story for Reading’s thriving business parks.


Co-working space is trending, but property specialists CoStar and LSH both warn that Thames Valley office supply is now falling with few new projects in the pipeline.


The annual LSH regional report highlighted that the development period of better quality office deliveries in 2017 and 2018 is tapering off, endangering the region’s future economic success. “The risk from having only a limited amount of new development, particularly in locations directly affected by the Elizabeth Line, is that new occupiers may be pushed out to other locations.”


However, the arrival of Crossrail in 2019 is undoubtedly supporting town-centre


investor demand, and CoStar noted recent major Station Hill area lettings (eg BDO, Ericsson, MBNL, Central Working, Moore Stephens, Northgate,) “contributing to Central Reading witnessing by far the greatest market demand over the past 12 months, with around 300,000 sq ft net absorption, more than double the volume in Bracknell – the second-highest regional demand.”


The high-flying industrial property market is equally constrained, particularly by the lack of availability of decent quality units, reported Haslams Chartered Surveyors’ partner Neil Seager. “Industrial land values now stand at historic high values and in parts of the Thames Valley, they now outstrip residential land values.”


With the industrial market closely linked to the evolving retail sector, Seager called for innovation and flexibility to help meet occupier demand. Noting, the UK’s first three- storey ‘last mile’ logistics hub being built in London, he wondered if Reading might one day have one.


Acclaimed, but beware of complacency


Reading has gained many accolades in recent years:


‘The UK’s most successful economic city’ (PwC/Demos Good Growth Index);


Thames Lido


‘Most prosperous UK city outside London’ (Barclays survey);


‘A top 25 European Business City of the Future’ (FDI European Future Cities Awards);


‘One of the best places to live in the UK’ (PwC/Demos ‘Good Growth for Cities Index’);


‘A top location for business growth’ (LSH report, UK Vitality Index);


‘Fastest-growing conurbations in the country’ (EY report, UK Region and City Economic Forecast);


‘UK’s No.1 regional technology cluster’ (KPMG Tech Monitor).


Reading has even gained Purple Flag status for its evening and nighttime town-centre economy and environment.


This January, the Centre for Cities Outlook 2018 put Reading in the top three UK places for wages, start-ups and productivity.


And, as you’ve learned above, the 2018 Tech Nation Report identified Reading as a key UK ‘digital tech hotspot’. Hence, the town can also provide a workforce with a high level of technology skills and knowledge.


While talent is attracted to the town, Reading also creates and nurtures it through excellent education. Leading UK secondary schools such as Reading and


businessmag.co.uk


READING NUMBER 1 CITY UPDATE – JULY/AUGUST 2018


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