Industrial land plots were the only land type to see an increase in property development interest since the first quarter of this year, research from Searchland has revealed.
The Land Development Demand Index monitors appetites for land plots across England based on the number of available opportunities within the market that have already been taken up by developers.
The index showed that developer demand cooled during the second quarter of this year, down 2% since Q1.
However, demand remained robust, with 45% of all available land plots having already been sold subject to contract.
The East Midlands (+1%) and London (+0.4%) were the only regions to see positive movement when it comes to the quarterly change in developer demand.
Land-only plots remained the most in-demand at 46%, although the appetite for such opportunities cooled by 2% since the start of the year.
London was the only region to have seen a quarterly boost in land-only development demand.
Farm land also remained popular at 43%, although again, this was -4% off the figure seen during Q1.
However, the North East (+23%), East of England (+17%), North West (+10%) and East Midlands (+7%) all saw positive growth in demand for farm development opportunities.
Industrial development sites were the third most in-demand in Q2 at 38%, but were also the only development type to have seen positive quarterly growth overall.
Demand for industrial development opportunities went up by 0.4% since the start of the year, with Yorkshire and the Humber driving this growth, where all industrial development plots are currently sold subject to contract.
Demand for commercial and residential plots sat at 35% a piece, with both sectors seeing a respective reduction in demand of -1% and -4%.
Mitchell Fasanya, co-founder and CEO of Searchland, said: “Developer appetites remain highest for land only plots as it allows them the freedom to realise their ambitions from the ground up, however, it’s clear that the wider economic picture is starting to dampen their enthusiasm with demand declining since the start of the year.
“In fact, industrial plots are the only land type to have seen a marginal uplift in this respect although there is positive movement across almost every land type when breaking the market down on a regional level.
“Demand remains lowest for both residential and commercial plots and with interest rates continuing to climb while market values stagnate, we expect this to remain the case throughout the remainder of the year.”
