Investors have £20bn ready to invest in UK lab space as availability hits record lows.

JLL and WAPG estimate that there is £20bn of capital waiting on the sidelines, looking to invest in UK life sciences real estate.

Glenn Crocker, executive director of venture capital investments at WAPG, said: “The availability of suitable lab and office space is already at all-time lows, and record-breaking funding levels and the significant growth in the number of start-ups will only fuel demand for life sciences real estate and exacerbate the issue of under-supply.”

Investors backed life sciences businesses with about £2.8bn in 2020, but this almost doubled to £4.5bn last year, according to data from the BioIndustry Association.