European logistics see leasing growth amidst investment slowdown

According to Savills' latest research, European logistics leasing activity increased by 6% year-on-year, reaching 6.58 million square meters in Q1 2026.

Logistics shipping

Key markets drove this growth, with the Netherlands seeing a 41% quarter-on-quarter increase, followed by the UK (14%), Belgium (7%), and Spain (6%). Madrid and Barcelona collectively recorded over 540,000 m2 of take-up in Q1, a 6% increase from Q4 2025, marking their highest quarterly growth.

While the European logistics investment market ended 2025 strong with €43.3 bn (the highest since the pandemic), Q1 2026 saw investment volumes drop to €7.5 bn, a 19.2% decrease from Q1 2025. Savills attributes this slowdown to investor uncertainty stemming from the Middle East conflict and its impact on interest rates and the financing market.

Sam Quellyn-Roberts, director in the EMEA industrial & logistics occupational markets team, said: “With a shortage of quality Grade A stock, resulting from the reduced speculative pipeline, this is helping support robust rental growth, especially across core markets, despite some lacklustre leasing. As a result, our Savills European Prime Rent Index has risen by 1.3% over the past three months and on an annual basis, increased by 2.7% on average across Europe.”

George Coleman, director, UK & EMEA logistics, Savills, added: “Investors continue to focus on core logistics locations and assets with a robust income profile. Typically, the most active capital remains value-add in nature with net lease/income funds and French SCPIs increasingly active. We’re also witnessing strong interest from core capital for prime stock and evidencing notable transactions across the region”.