Take-up of South East office space reached 1.4m sq ft in H1 2025 – the highest half-yearly take-up for the region since 2019 and a 3% increase on the same period last year, according to new data from CBRE.
In Q2 2025, take-up reached almost 600,000 sq ft with the Thames Valley market accounting for 362,600 sq ft (61%) of activity.
Take-up of secondhand space fell quarter-on-quarter by 12%, but continued to account for the largest proportion of total take-up (71%).
The consumer services and leisure sector accounted for more than a quarter (27%) of total take-up, followed by TMT (26%) and manufacturing, industrial and energy (23%).
Space under offer fell by 18% in Q2 2025 to 578,400 sq ft across all unit sizes.
Peter York, head of London Met and South East investor leasing at CBRE, said: “Take-up has gradually been increasing in recent years, taking us to the highest half-yearly levels we have seen since 2019. We’ve seen a lot of diversification on business parks across the region, with a wider range of occupiers looking to secure space in what is an attractive market, particularly for larger units.”
