Growing demand for office space helps market in Scotland's cities

Published on Tuesday 20 July 2010 21:35

DEMAND in the Scottish office market has strengthened in the first half of the year, according to a report published yesterday by commercial property advisors CB Richard Ellis.

In Glasgow, take-up of office space more than doubled to 301,800sq ft in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.

Significant lettings in the city during the period including properties on George Square to Maclay, Murray & Spens and Ernst & Young, and the Clarion Buildings on Wellington Street to NFU Mutual, the largest letting of the year.

Edinburgh and Aberdeen also experienced strong increases of 24 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.

While overall demand is increasing, the report found that the office market continues to be dominated by smaller deals.

The supply of available office space has also decreased across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen this year compared with the first half of 2009.

That trend is likely to continue with few new developments in the pipeline, although the report said rising demand may encourage developers to look at new sites. In Glasgow and Edinburgh, prime rents remained unchanged at 27 per sq ft and 27.50 per sq ft respectively with Aberdeen increasing by 2 to 30 per sq ft.