Office take-up has slowed across the key regional office markets, but availability remains at historically low levels. EGi Research looks at how the markets fared in the run-up to the EU referendum
Take-up across the UK’s six largest regional office markets took a tumble in the run-up to the EU referendum, although not as badly as the 40% decline seen in London.
Take-up fell by 19.1% between Q1 and Q2, and by 27% compared with the same quarter last year, to 929,000 sq ft. Rolling annual take-up slowed to 4.6m sq ft.
But despite the take-up slowdown, availability still stands at just 11.2%, well down on trend.
Alongside the economic fallout and uncertainty, future regional office take-up could depend on how willing or able landlords are to negotiate with prospective occupiers on lease lengths and rents.
Over the past three years, average rents have increased by 17.7% in Birmingham, 25% in Bristol, 24.1% in Glasgow and 10.4% in Edinburgh.
