Year ends on a high for cities' property market

THE office property markets in both Edinburgh and Glasgow ended 2010 "on a high note", according to research published yesterday.

Take-up of office space in the Scottish capital rose by 20 per cent year-on-year, while the nation's largest city finished 5 per cent above its ten-year average, global property consultancy DTZ claimed.

Nearly 210,000sq ft of office space was bought or rented out in Edinburgh during the final three months of the year, including the acquisition of 100,000sq ft by Tesco Bank at the South Gyle business park.

In Glasgow, about 204,000sq ft changed hands, including Scottish & Southern Energy's purchase of One Waterloo Street and space in the G1 development on George Square being let to legal practice Maclay Murray & Spens and accountancy firm Ernst & Young.

Bill Colville, director of DTZ's Glasgow office, said: "With the development pipeline at a standstill, it is also unlikely there will be any new build Grade-A space offered to the market for two to three years."

DTZ expects to see a slight fall in total take-up in Edinburgh during 2011 as a result of the contraction of the public sector.

On the west coast, the firm expects landlords to refurbish their Grade-B office space in order to attract customers as Grade-A sites will be at a premium.