Renting a warehouse is a slower, more technical process than renting an office, and the building either fits your operation or it does not - you cannot fix low clear height or too few docks with a nice fit-out. A big-box requirement typically takes <b>three to six months</b> from brief to occupation, longer if you need racking or automation installed. Here is the sequence, and the four numbers that decide whether a shed is right for you.
The 7 steps, in order
- Define the operational brief. Pallet count, throughput (pallets in/out per day), clear height needed, number of dock doors, floor loading, power, and whether you need any office or temperature control. Size in m² comes out of the pallet maths, not the other way round.
- Fix the location logic. For logistics, distance to a motorway junction and to your customers or ports matters more than the address. A unit 3 km from a junction beats a cheaper one 20 km away once you count transport cost.
- Set the real budget. Headline rent is usually triple-net, so add service charge and property tax, then add racking, fit-out and any power upgrade. See our rent guide for the numbers.
- Shortlist honestly. Five or six units that genuinely meet the clear-height, dock and loading specs beat 20 that half-fit. Start a brief and let the platform filter on the hard specs.
- View with a tape measure and the racking plan. Verify clear height under the lowest obstruction (not the apex), dock positions, column grid and yard depth against how your trucks and racking will actually sit.
- Negotiate the incentives. On a 5-10 year logistics lease the levers are rent-free months, a racking or fit-out contribution and a service-charge cap - see negotiating a warehouse lease.
- Legals, fit-out, handover. Heads of terms → lawyer → racking and power works. Budget 6-16 weeks here if the unit needs a power upgrade or a full racking install.
The four specs that make or break a warehouse
Clear height — The usable internal height under the lowest obstruction. Modern big-box aims for 10-12 m; older units are 6-8 m. Every extra metre lets you rack higher and cuts your cost per pallet stored.
Dock doors — Loading doors with levellers for HGVs. A busy distribution unit wants roughly one dock per 1,000 m²; too few throttles throughput whatever the rent.
Floor loading — How much weight the slab carries, in kN/m² (or tonnes/m²). Modern logistics floors are ~50 kN/m² (5 t/m²); heavy racking or mezzanines need this verified.
Location — Distance to the nearest motorway junction and to your delivery points. For logistics this drives transport cost far more than the postcode.
How long does it take, and what does move-in involve?
An existing, fitted unit that already suits your racking can be signed and occupied in 4-8 weeks. A big-box that needs racking, a mezzanine or a power upgrade realistically takes 3-6 months, and a build-to-suit facility 12-18 months. The single biggest hidden delay is a grid power upgrade - see the pre-signing checklist.
Typical time to occupation
Existing fitted unit — 4-8 weeks
Big-box needing racking / power — 3-6 months
Build-to-suit — 12-18 months
Power upgrade lead time — 3-9 months (often the bottleneck)
