Manchester leads office take-up across big six regional cities

Manchester was the stand-out city across the big six regional office markets in Q3 2023, according to Savills. Overall, data from the consultancy showed that take-up of workspace across Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester grew by 15% on the previous quarter to 892,000 sq ft. However, the figure is still down 11% when compared with the same period last year. James Evans, head of national office agency at Savills, said: “The continued economic uncertainty has had an impact on the office leasing market, with occupiers taking longer to make decisions. This has translated to fewer deals completing in Q3. “However, it is encouraging to see positive momentum this year, with a number of markets increasing activity quarter-on-quarter and a healthy pipeline of requirements.” Manchester led the quarterly growth, with take-up almost doubling to 179,000 sq ft over the three months to 30 September. It was also the only market to report an increase in take-up in Q3 compared with the same period last year. The 8% year-on-year growth in leasing activity was driven by two educational deals – namely, Arden University taking 42,944 sq ft at 2 Hardman Street and University Academy 92 taking 36,751 sq ft at Riverside. Elsewhere, Bristol and Glasgow also reported increases in office take-up, with rises of 17% and 35% respectively compared with Q2 2023. For the nine months to the end of September, Savills tracked a combined take-up of office space of 2.53m sq ft, which is 8% below the same period last year. Despite the overall decrease in take-up, the Edinburgh market was 22% ahead of last year, while Leeds outperformed its prior year figures by 39%. Evans added: “We anticipate further growth as many businesses now have a better understanding of their office needs, and we expect continued momentum moving into the new year. “This will further reduce the supply of prime office stock in many cities, leading to inevitable rental growth as occupiers compete to secure the best space. Polarisation, however, remains a key theme, with weaker office stock falling foul of occupiers’ ongoing flight to quality.” According to Savills, there remains a “healthy” pipeline of activity, with 3.2m sq ft of requirements across the big six regions. To send feedback, e-mail evelina.grecenko@eg.co.uk or tweet @Gre_Eve or @EGPropertyNews Discover which agents have been most active in the regional office markets so far this year >> Photo from Mark Campbell/Shutterstock