The survey, conducted in Q4 2025, collected 382 responses with occupiers accounting for 47%, therefore providing a robust dataset to form views on the outlook for 2026 and beyond. And while the survey was conducted before current geopolitical events in the Middle East, many of the conclusions remain valid.

Indeed, one key finding is that occupiers appear to be accepting of the “new normal”: 2% feel business conditions are better than they were 12 months ago and 43% are more optimistic about the next 12 months.

YTD numbers back up survey sentiment

While optimism from a survey is one thing, it’s pleasing to see it align with market data. 2025 year-end take-up reached 33.4m sq ft; the strongest occupier demand in three years. We also saw the average deal-size increase to 240,000 sq ft from 236,000 sq ft, meaning that occupiers were back taking larger buildings, a trend which had been largely absent recently. As for 2026, it’s too early to predict the market impact of the evolving situation in the Middle East, but data from our agency team shows building viewings this year have risen 161% on 2025 in parts of the country and 7.36 million sq ft was transacted in Q1 2026 with a further 5.98 million sq ft under offer.

Returning to our survey, notably, 32% of occupiers are targeting Build-to-suit (BTS) developments in the future. These deals have been absent for the last three years; a return of larger BTS deals could drive a significant uptick in take-up ahead of the pre-pandemic average.

One possible driver of this increased demand is that occupiers’ excess network capacity is trending  downwards. Compared to last year's survey, the number of occupiers with excess space of more than 15% of their footprint has fallen from 20% to 11%. Meanwhile, the share of occupiers with less than 5% excess capacity has increased from 40% to 48%. This suggests that a significant portion of the rapid expansion - which saw some occupiers taking too much space in 2020–2022 - has now been filled. This will reduce the flow of grey space coming to the market and increase demand for new space as occupiers look to increase capacity.

Long-term trends influencing occupiers’ strategies

While the data highlights potential upsides in 2026 it won’t all be straightforward. Future Space highlights three salient challenges that will radically influence occupiers’ real estate strategies over the next 10 - 15 years: achieving net-zero, securing sufficient power, and adapting to changing labour needs.

It’s long been clear that ESG regulations will inevitably push occupiers to adapt their warehouse footprints. Indeed, when asked if they could achieve net-zero within their current footprints, two-thirds said they could not. A possible explanation for this is timelines: only 38% expect to hit net-zero by 2035, with a further 43% by 2040, suggesting that many expect future lease events will provide an opportunity to improve their sustainability credentials to meet targets. Nonetheless, growing power needs may push occupiers to make this transition sooner: 82% of occupiers indicated their power needs will grow over the next three years. Notably, 36% listed power as a barrier to securing space, up from 11% in 2023 and 7% in 2022.

This edition of Future Space demonstrates the many strategic tailwinds which will continue to drive the sector forward over the next decade, but there remain barriers to the positive sentiment translating into new facilities.

Further information

Contact Kevin Mofid

The European Logistics market shows signs of stability in 2025, but is it ready for take-off in 2026?