Building on its solid performance in the first quarter of 2018, the Western Corridor office market saw take-up levels of 460,000 sq ft in Q2 2018, taking the total amount of space transacted in the first half of the year to 965,000 sq ft. This represents an increase of 13% on the corresponding period of 2017.
The Western Corridor’s investment market saw £417m transacted in Q2 2018 which takes volumes for the first half of the year to £673m, representing a 7% jump on the first half of 2017.
In recent years JLL has identified a shift in the size of deals, with much of the activity focusing on smaller size bands. This trend has continued and the first half of 2018 was characterised by smaller deals – of the 62 transactions completed in H1 2018, 42 (68%) of them were undertaken on space in the 5,000 sq ft to 20,000 sq ft size bracket.
These strong take-up levels achieved so far in 2018 have contributed to the continued erosion of the supply pipeline according to JLL, who cited supply levels as falling by 11% to 9.1m sq ft.
James Finnis, head of south east office agency at JLL, said: “Occupiers in the Western Corridor are increasingly focused on the best, available supply – prioritising quality over quantity.
“Infrastructure improvements, increased access to improved amenities and the addition of flexible space (serviced and co-working) in multi-let buildings have all played a part in accelerating the Western Corridor’s position as a modern commercial destination”
