Average industrial building construction cost in UK 2024, by selected cities

In 2024, London had the highest construction costs for manufacturing facilities and warehouses among the cities of the United Kingdom included in this list. Building an advanced industrial plant in Manchester cost 2,140 British pounds per square meter. The figures in Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Manchester were somewhat similar. Certain areas of London, such as Park Royal, Canning Town, and Acton, had some of the highest rent of new small warehouse units in the UK in 2022.

What factors determine construction costs?

The cost of labor in construction in the UK amounted to nearly two-thirds of the overall income in that sector. Apart from the salaries of employees and workers, the price of land and machinery are also quite important. Another element that can be subject to a lot of change is the price of building materials, with the price of concrete re-inforcing bars in the UK growing by nearly 38 percent in 2022. However, construction projects also face other costs, such as fees and other administrative costs.

Industrial land prices

Some components that affect the final cost of constructing warehouses and manufacturing facilities can vary a lot within the same country. For example, salaries tend to be higher in large cities. Along the same lines, the price of industrial land in North London was well over ten times higher than in Edinburgh in 2022. However, these disparities are not as pronounced in every country. Although certain areas of Warsaw had very high prices, industrial and warehouse land prices in other Polish cities such as Poznan, Wroclaw, or Krakow were higher than in the zone III of Warsaw.