Agents at EG’s Edinburgh reception this week had plenty to cheer about. The city saw office take-up rise by two-thirds in Q1, compared with the same period last year; the highest rise of any regional city and almost double the UK top five regional cities’ average.
More deals were done in Edinburgh this quarter than during both the traditionally busy last quarter and the same period last year, with the size of those deals growing by 71%, according to EGi Offices Research. Rents in the city rose by nearly a third to £31.75 per sq ft putting it second behind Cambridge at £35 per sq ft.
Scotland’s capital city sat head and shoulders above the country’s largest city Glasgow, which saw deals rise by a more modest, but far from unimpressive, 37% – placing this year’s Commonwealth Games host in number three position UK-wide.
But unlike Glasgow, which saw three speculative schemes start last year, Edinburgh has one of the lowest levels of supply in the country, with 2.3 years of marketed space available at present take-up levels, less than London and just behind Manchester, the most space-starved UK city.
Hopes now rest on a start on site from Artisan Real Estate Investors’ £150m , which includes 178,000 sq ft of offices. Further stock is waiting in the wings, with Moorfield Group’s £170m scheme including 360,000 sq ft of offices, and Tiger Developments’ and Interserve’s £200m Haymarket project proposes 400,000 sq ft of offices. But both are still under starter’s orders.
nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com
