The amount of industrial floor space available in the West of England is back on the rise, according to international property consultants King Sturge.

Six months ago the firm's nationwide survey highlighted the region as one of only two in England, Scotland and Wales to record a fall - 1.8 per cent - over a half-year period.

But figures for the first half of 2007 show a 2.4 per cent increase in the amount of available floor space in the West at 1.34m sq m, against an overall rise across Great Britain since December 2006, of 4.5 per cent.

However, availability in large buildings of more than 10,000 sq m fell by 4.1 per cent to 281,000 sq m in the West, according to the King Sturge survey.

And available new floor space also declined by 35.1 per cent, to 61,000 sq m.

The research also highlights that prime industrial rents across the West have increased marginally in the past six months, although the figure in Bristol is unchanged at £75.35 per sq m.

The figure for Swindon is £70.

In terms of existing new build, the King Sturge industrial floor space survey highlights several major developments across the region, including: l The letting of DC2 at ProLogis Swindon to Morrisons Supermarkets - the 28,057 sq m distribution facility at South Marston Park is the largest completed speculative building in the region in recent years l The Westerngate development of industrial and warehouse units at Hillmead Enterprise Park, also in Swindon l The Poplar Park warehouse development at Cabot Park, Severnside, near Bristol l Two large warehouses under construction at G.Park at Western Approach in Bristol l The speculative warehouse developments at Commerce Park in Frome Meanwhile there is currently more than 124,000 sq m of space under construction in speculative development schemes across the region, in 12 sites, including: l Gazeley's G.Park scheme at Western Approach in Bristol, with two units totalling almost 30,000 sq m l Cabot Park, Bristol, where ProLogis is developing two distribution units totalling more than 60,000 sq m in area l Phase 2 of Rok Development's Nexus Scheme, on Gloucester Business Park l St. Modwen's development of six warehouse units at Quedgeley West in Gloucester Rob Cleeves, partner in the industrial agency team at King Sturge, said: "We have witnessed a number of significant disposals across the region and this has resulted in the reduction in available floorspace in the larger size range.

"I predict we will see a large increase in new space available in our next survey, with the completion of more than a million sq ft across the region."