Edinburgh leads way as 'big six' office markets record best quarterly take-up

Britain’s “big six” regional office markets, which include Edinburgh and Glasgow, have recorded their best quarter for collective take-up this year, new figures reveal.

Combined take-up came to just over one million square feet in the third quarter of 2022, a 23 per cent increase on the previous three months, according to property consultancy Savills. The other four cities making up the big six are Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester.

Edinburgh reported the largest increase in take-up with a 138 per cent jump on the second quarter. Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds also reported quarterly increases in take-up, at 61 per cent, 29 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. This resulted in all four office markets reporting their best quarterly take-up this year.

Savills reported that rental values within the regional markets also continue to “show resilience”, with Bristol achieving rental growth of 11.8 per cent so far in 2022, with headline rents for the city reaching £42.50 per sq ft. The prime rent for Leeds rose to £36 per sq ft in the third quarter, up from £34 earlier in the year.

James Evans, head of national office agency at Savills, said: “In spite of challenging economic metrics, the office occupational market is showing continued resilience in the regional markets. We have seen very limited evidence of leasing transactions aborting or indeed negative impact on headline rents. The forthcoming Autumn Statement and its ability to provide confidence to business leaders will have a significant impact on occupational demand as we head into 2024.”