Warwickshire’s leading commercial property agency Bromwich Hardy has endorsed a call to newly elected county MPs after 4 July to support a drive to create jobs through freeing up more land for employment.
Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s Property & Land Group produced a report in 2023 that highlighted a chronic need for more land to be allocated for employment use across the county.
David Penn, partner at Bromwich Hardy and past president of the Chamber, said: “Regardless of who emerges as the government after the General Election, Warwickshire will still desperately needs more employment land.”
Mr Penn, who is Chair of the Chamber’s Employment Land Group, said a lack of supply of employment land risked driving land prices up and distorting the market.
“When supply is restricted, as it currently is, it drives land prices to a point where some types of development simply don’t make sense financially and we end up with big shed after bid shed because there is such high demand.
“Of course we need big sheds to supply the burgeoning logistics and transport industry, but we also need other types of commercial property too at a price that is affordable for tenants.
“If we want the economy to grow, if we want to attract inward investment and if we want our local businesses to be able to expand, we have to provide the land and the property to do that.
“Ultimately, this campaign is important for all of us, not just businesses, as newly designated employment land will help create the jobs for today and tomorrow and help grow the Warwickshire economy.”
He is calling on all parties and candidates, both locally and regionally, to recognise the importance of allocating enough land in Coventry and Warwickshire for businesses of all sizes and sectors.
“This isn’t something that will be responsibility of local MPs alone. It has to be national government and local authorities working in tandem to deliver what is needed, but we need our local MPs behind this and helping the Chamber to drive it forward.
The Chamber’s land report can be viewed here.
