How has lab space performed compared to traditional office space throughout the pandemic?

The global Coronavirus pandemic has affected us all, but has impacted different property classes in different ways.

Landlords are now looking with interest at the sectors which have proven the most resilient and this could be one of the many reasons why the Life Science and Logistics sector is experiencing such a growth at the moment, with investments in the sector rising.

For many people, the pandemic has seen offices left empty while people are encouraged to work from home. This is not always possible in the case of the science sector – or indeed any sector where the role involves the use of specialist facilities (such as a lab) or specialist equipment. In our experience, our managed lab spaces have remained relatively well used throughout the current pandemic (fluctuating depending on the government guidelines at the time).

The barriers of public transport have also not hindered the occupiers of the large science parks – where the ability to drive and the availability of good parking has proved most helpful.

The result has been that our parks have remained relatively stable in terms of occupation, which in turn has resulted in the sector generally seeing one of the best collection statistics of all property types. We have worked hard to ensure all our Parks are COVID-19 secure, but we do hope we can all get back to a new normal very soon!