Office take-up activity in the UK’s ‘big six’ regional office markets fell to 1.65m sq ft in H1 2023, reveals the latest data from Savills.
This was 5% below the total achieved by the big six office markets of Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester, in the same period last year and 16% below the five year H1 average.
Birmingham (16%), Edinburgh (71%) and Glasgow (18%) all reported quarterly take-up growth in Q2 2023 and Leeds racked up the biggest leasing deal in the big six markets of the year so far with the 125,000 sq ft letting to Lloyds Banking Group at 11/12 Wellington Place (pictured).
James Evans, head of national office agency at Savills, says: “The ongoing challenging macroeconomic environment has tempered office demand within the regional markets during the first half of the year. There has been more cautious behaviour displayed among some occupiers who have chosen to defer capital expenditure decisions leading to a transaction lag.
“However, there has been a marked increase in larger, named requirements particularly in markets such as Manchester and the wider South East region. These continue to focus on prime assets, providing further evidence to the ongoing polarisation seen across all markets. We anticipate further rental growth in H2 as the best assets attract the majority of larger occupier interest. Away from the prime market, the traditional churn of smaller requirements has showed relative resilience with an increasing bias towards flexible and fitted space.”
