Typical time to let by property type
There is no official UK statistic for how long a commercial unit takes to let, and anyone quoting one to the week is guessing. What the market consistently shows is a pattern by property type:
- Industrial units, workshops and storage - usually the fastest. Demand for small industrial and storage space has been strong across most of the UK for several years; a well-priced unit in a reasonable location often lets within weeks, and a few months is normal.
- Offices - slower and more varied. Small, flexible offices on short terms let reasonably quickly; larger floors on long leases can take many months.
- Retail - the most location-dependent. A good pitch lets; a secondary parade can sit for a long time regardless of price.
- Land and yards - quick where there is trade demand (storage, vehicles, materials), slow where there is not.
Treat those as shapes, not forecasts. The same unit can let in a fortnight or a year depending on the three things below.
What speeds a letting up
In rough order of importance:
- Price. The single biggest lever. A unit priced at the market rent lets; one priced 15% above it gets viewings and no offers. If you are not sure of the market rent, look at what similar units nearby are asking on Boxpod and elsewhere, and remember asking rents are ceilings, not floors.
- Presentation and information. Six or more daylight photos, a stated rent, the size in square feet and square metres, and the practical details (power, access, eaves height, parking, use class). Listings missing the rent or the size are filtered out by most tenants before they are ever read.
- Response time. Businesses enquire on several units at once. Reply the same day and you get the viewing; reply in a week and they have moved on.
- Flexibility. Offering a shorter term, a break clause, a short rent-free period or a phased start can turn a "maybe" into a signature, and usually costs less than another month empty.
- Condition. Clean, clear, working lights and roller shutter, no leaks. Tenants price in every job they can see.
Notice that none of these is "which portal" or "which agent". The route you advertise through matters less than what you advertise and how you respond. The guide to finding a tenant yourself covers the presentation side in detail.
What the cost of waiting looks like
Every month a unit stands empty costs the rent you are not collecting - £1,250 a month on a unit let at £15,000 a year - and, in most cases, business rates: in England, empty commercial property is generally exempt for the first three months (six for industrial), after which the owner pays. Insurance usually costs more on an empty building, and an empty unit deteriorates faster than an occupied one.
Put those against the usual hesitations. Holding out for 10% more rent is worth about £125 a month on that unit; a month's delay costs ten times that. A rent-free month to secure a good tenant on a five-year lease is cheap. This is the arithmetic that should drive the decisions in the section above.
If your unit is not letting
If you have had the unit advertised for two or three months with few enquiries, work down this list in order:
- Check the price against comparable asking rents, and be honest about whether yours is a premium unit.
- Rewrite the listing: new photos in daylight, the rent stated, the size stated, the use spelled out.
- Widen the use. Could the unit suit storage as well as workshop use, or a trade counter, or a small office? Say so.
- Add flexibility: shorter term, break clause, rent-free period, or splitting a large unit.
- Widen the channels: board up, neighbours told, a second listing route - and, for a genuinely difficult unit, an agent alongside your own listing.
If you are getting viewings but no offers, it is almost always price or condition. If you are getting no enquiries at all, it is almost always the listing or the channel.