AI And New Tech Key To Mop Up Surging UK Life Sciences Supply
The UK’s life sciences sector has expanded sharply since the pandemic, with the number of active companies rising 22% from the end of 2019 to reach 15,436 by year-end 2025, according to Knight Frank.
However, the adviser said leasing momentum cooled over 2025, with lab availability across the Golden Triangle rising 68% year-on-year to 1.2M SF, against named demand for 1.6M SF of lab and “tech box” space.
A substantial development pipeline is set to increase availability, with nearly 3.7M SF under construction and due for completion by the end of 2028, including almost 1.7M SF this year alone.
“Following several years of supply constraints in the UK lab and office market, the balance is tilting back in favour of the UK’s science and tech occupiers,” Knight Frank partner Jennifer Townsend said.
Takeup in the Golden Triangle almost doubled from 536K SF in 2024 to more than 1M SF in 2025, much of that driven by the Ellison Institute of Technology’s decision to take more than 400K SF at The Daubeny Project in Oxford Science Park. However, leasing activity was dominated by smaller occupiers, with only 17 transactions exceeding 10K SF.
The north-west gained ground as an alternative location, and in 2025 it ranked second only to London for takeup, overtaking the south-east and the east of England for the first time.
Knight Frank also pointed to the rise of automated labs and growing requirements for dry lab space from robotics and advanced manufacturing groups. Liverpool last year announced a £100M artificial intelligence-driven materials discovery centre, while DeepMind set out plans for its first automated materials science lab in the UK.
In early 2026, Eli Lilly and Nvidia expanded their partnership and committed to $1B over five years for a joint AI lab.
“The UK continued to demonstrate its appeal in 2025, despite an uncertain macroeconomic and regulatory backdrop slowing the influx of new entrants to the market and prompting an uptick in the dissolution of immature pharma and biotech businesses,” Knight Frank Head of Life Sciences and Innovation Nicholas Blevins said in a statement.
“AI and advanced manufacturing firms emerged as new fonts of activity, reshaping the sector’s real estate demands and unlocking opportunities for new regional hubs to emerge.”
Bisnow’s UK Life Sciences and Healthcare Summit 2026 will be at the Leonardo Royal London St Paul's on 17 March. Book tickets here.
