Cushman & Wakefield gives its predictions on what lies ahead for the Bristol property market this year:
Andy Heath, Partner and Head of Cushman & Wakefield’s Bristol Office agency team comments: Following a bumper year for the Bristol market, current overall supply of office stock is just over 2% of total office stock, this has led to Bristol achieving a new Grade A rent of £32.50psf in November signifying the highest rate of regional rental growth in the UK. Due to the lack of supply and a steady level of demand we are predicting rents will continue to grow to £35.00psf by mid-2018.
For 2018, not only do we anticipate rents will rise, but we expect rental incentives to reduce which has not been seen so far in this cycle.
From the occupier’s perspective, Bristol was voted by Huawei the ‘Best Smart City in the UK 2017’ and has a large number of rapidly growing tech companies demanding more space – although due to the pace of their growth they will be requiring flexible leases and these options just do not exist in the current market which could be a barrier to growth along with the lack of a concerted development pipeline.
Bristol continues to be a target for investors due to the strong demographic and quality of lifestyle and we see nothing to stop this trend in 2018.
