How much does it cost to build a warehouse in the UK? 2026 guide

There is no single price for a warehouse, because the phrase covers everything from an unheated storage shed to a racked, sprinklered, fitted-out distribution unit. The useful approach is to see what the number is made of, price each layer from published rates, and then decide whether building is the right move at all.

How much does it cost to build a warehouse in the UK?

For a typical warehouse with high eaves, the steel frame alone costs £141 to £180 per m², a basic building package costs around £200 to £350 per m², and a shell with internal fit-out costs around £350 to £600 per m². All three exclude land, groundworks and foundations, professional fees and VAT.

• Frame only: £116 to £151 per m² for low eaves of 6 to 8 metres and £141 to £180 per m² for eaves of 10 to 13 metres, from Costing Steelwork 37 (September 2026). Most pallet-racked warehouses fall into the high-eaves band.
• Building package: our guide price for a basic single-span portal frame with standard cladding and a concrete floor is £200 to £350 per m², excluding groundworks and foundations.
• Shell with fit-out: our guide is £350 to £600 per m² for a shell with internal fit-out. A fully fitted building is priced on its services and fit-out rather than its structure. The one fully costed warehouse in the Steel Construction Institute's cost pages, priced in Stoke in late 2023, came to £920 per m² for the whole building, with the frame at £127.

These guide prices are indicative and depend on the site, the specification and the market on the day. Our guide to steel frame building cost shows how the layers build up.

What pushes a warehouse towards the top of the range

The shed itself is rarely the reason. A warehouse is a steel frame, an envelope, a floor, doors and a yard, and each piece moves with the use. These are the factors that move the number most.

• Eaves height. Taller frames weigh about 20% more, and the cost data moves from the low-eaves to the high-eaves band at 10 metres.
• Floor loading. Racking and forklift traffic need a thicker, flatter and better-reinforced slab, and the slab is often a bigger cost than the frame.
• Loading doors. The number, size and type of dock-level and level-access doors. Our guide to industrial roller shutter doors sets out the options.
• Yard and turning space. HGV circulation, drainage and surfacing add up quickly, and planning authorities often set the layout.
• Power and services. Capacity for charging, lighting and any plant can need a substation or an upgraded supply.
• Fire protection. Costing Steelwork 37 gives factory-applied intumescent coating at £30 to £41 per m² for 60 minutes and £47 to £78 per m² for 90 minutes, where the fire strategy requires it.
• The office and welfare element, which is built to a different specification from the shed.

A warehouse built for pallet racking to 12 metres is a different building from one for stacked cartons at 6. Fix the use before you fix the height.

Warehouse cost examples: 2,000 m² and 5,000 m²

These examples are illustrative, built only from the published rates and our guide price. They are not quotes and they exclude land, groundworks, foundations, fees and VAT.

A 2,000 m² high-eaves warehouse (about 21,500 sq ft): the frame comes to £282,000 to £360,000 at the baseline index. A basic building package at our guide would be £400,000 to £700,000, and a shell with fit-out £700,000 to £1.2 million. The planning application fee for 2,000 m² on the 1 April 2026 scale is £17,793.

A 5,000 m² high-eaves warehouse (about 53,800 sq ft): the frame comes to £705,000 to £900,000. A basic package would be £1.0 million to £1.75 million, and a shell with fit-out £1.75 million to £3.0 million. The planning fee for 5,000 m² is £35,910.

The steel market adds uncertainty to all of these. Fabricated structural steel rose 21.2% in the 12 months to August 2026, and we explain what that means for a quote in steel prices, imports and your build.

Planning permission for a warehouse

A new warehouse on a new site almost always needs planning permission. A warehouse falls within use class B8 (storage or distribution). The permitted development rights in Class H of Part 7 of the General Permitted Development Order cover extensions and alterations to an existing industrial building or warehouse, and limited new buildings within its curtilage, subject to conditions set out in Class H.

• A new building within the curtilage of an existing industrial building or warehouse is limited to 200 square metres of floor space, or 100 square metres on designated land.
• An extension is limited to 50% of the original building or 1,000 square metres, whichever is less (less again on designated land).
• Development cannot come within 5 metres of the curtilage boundary, and height is limited to 5 metres within 10 metres of the boundary.
• New or extended warehouse space must relate to the use of the original building.

The Planning Portal sets out the same limits and warns that an Article 4 Direction or an earlier planning condition can remove these rights. Raise planning before you buy land, not after. The application fee for a new non-residential building in England is £610 for each 75 m² between 40 and 1,000 m², and £659 per 75 m² from 1,000 to 3,750 m², with a higher scale above that, under the government's planning fees notice.

Duties on a warehouse project: CDM, building regulations and VAT

CDM. Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, a commercial client must make suitable project management arrangements, appoint a principal designer and principal contractor on any project with more than one contractor, and provide pre-construction information to everyone bidding. HSE says a project is notifiable if the work lasts longer than 30 working days with more than 20 workers on site at once, or exceeds 500 person-days. The HSE guidance for commercial clients sets this out. Our guide to checking a contractor before you sign covers how to assess a contractor's competence.

Building regulations. A new warehouse needs building control approval, and the energy requirements for non-domestic buildings sit in Approved Document L Volume 2. See our note on Part L for commercial buildings.

VAT. HMRC's VAT Notice 708 says the construction of a new building is normally standard-rated, with zero rating limited to dwellings and certain residential and charitable buildings. A commercial warehouse will normally carry 20% VAT. Check your own position with your accountant.

What a warehouse quote should state

If two warehouse quotes differ by a third, the building is rarely the reason. Check each one states the eaves height, span and bay spacing it has priced, the floor loading and slab specification, the number and type of doors, whether groundworks, drainage and the yard are in or out, what cladding and insulation are included, whether fire protection is included, who fabricates and erects, and how long the price is held. Anything left blank is a cost that will turn up later, usually on the groundworks and the slab.

Build or rent a warehouse?

Building starts to make sense when you will occupy for long enough, you can get the land, and your needs are specific. The arithmetic is simpler than most people expect, and the rent data is public.

Knight Frank's Midlands Q2 2026 report puts prime rent for units over 50,000 sq ft in Birmingham at £12.50 per sq ft a year, up 4.2% on 12 months earlier. That is about £135 per m² a year. Take a 5,000 m² unit: the rent would be about £673,000 a year. Against that, our guide price for a shell with fit-out gives a build cost of £1.75 million to £3.0 million, which is roughly 2.6 to 4.5 years of that prime rent.

That comparison leaves out land, finance, groundworks, fees, VAT and any rent-free periods, and it applies to prime space in a strong location, so treat it as a sense of scale and not a business case. It does show where to look. If you will occupy for much longer than the payback and you can secure the land, building deserves a serious look.

Availability pushes the same way. The Knight Frank report puts Grade A vacancy in the Midlands at 3.2%, down from 3.5% the previous quarter, with 12.7 million sq ft of Grade B or lower space against 6.3 million sq ft of new or Grade A space. There are 15 speculative units (2.4 million sq ft) under construction, down from 17. For occupiers needing 400,000 sq ft or more, only three Grade A units are available and one is under offer. If your needs are specific, the right building may not be on the market. These figures cover units over 50,000 sq ft, so smaller buildings may differ.

How we scope a warehouse at MSB Group

We pin the brief down on one page: how much floor, how high, how much load, how many doors, how much power and how much yard. Then we look at the site, because the ground and the planning position change the budget more than any detail of the shed. From there we give an indicative range and a programme. We design, fabricate, erect and manage the groundworks under design and build, and our industrial and warehousing page shows the buildings we deliver.

For scale, we delivered a 9,000 sq ft warehouse and office for Carpigiani in Hereford in three months, and the 250,000 sq ft Longhope Business Park over about three years. Programme follows size and site conditions, not a rule of thumb. We fabricate in our own 45,000 sq ft workshop and erect with our own teams, so the frame, foundations and cladding are designed together.

Next step

Send us the floor area you need, the clear height, the loading you expect, the number of doors and the site through our contact page. We will come back with an indicative range, what it includes and what it does not. For the structural side, see portal frame buildings explained.

Questions we get asked

How much does it cost to build a warehouse per m² in the UK?

The frame alone is £141 to £180 per m² for high eaves, a basic building package starts around £200 to £350 per m², and a shell with fit-out is around £350 to £600 per m². Land, groundworks, fees and VAT are extra.

How much does it cost to build a 5,000 sq ft warehouse?

5,000 sq ft is about 465 m². At our basic package guide of £200 to £350 per m² that is roughly £93,000 to £163,000 before groundworks, fees and VAT. Small buildings carry higher per-square-metre costs for fixed items such as doors and groundworks.

Is it cheaper to build or rent a warehouse?

It depends on land, how long you will occupy it and how specific your needs are. Compare build cost per m² with annual rent per m² to see the payback in years, then add land, finance, fees and VAT.

Do I need planning permission to build a warehouse?

Usually, yes. Class H permitted development allows extensions to an existing industrial building or warehouse, and new buildings of up to 200 square metres within its curtilage, subject to conditions. A new warehouse of scale needs full planning permission.

How long does it take to build a warehouse?

It depends on size, ground and planning. We built a 9,000 sq ft unit in three months and a 250,000 sq ft business park over about three years. We give a programme once we know the size, the ground and the planning position.

Does a warehouse need building regulations approval?

Yes. A new warehouse needs building control approval, including structure, fire safety and the energy requirements for non-domestic buildings in Approved Document L Volume 2.

What is the cheapest way to build a warehouse?

Keep the geometry simple, avoid height you do not need, use a repeated bay, settle doors and fire strategy early, and bring the frame and groundworks designers together. Be wary of savings on foundations, fixings and certification.