Leeds has again recorded a healthy year for office take-up, most notably in the city centre according to new 2019 figures released today by the Leeds Office Agents’ Forum (LOAF).
The data shows that occupier take-up in Leeds city centre reached a full year total of 743,192 sq ft, 12% higher than the previous year.
In the final three months (Q4), city centre office take-up totalled 164,398 sq ft across 31 deals. Of this, there were three transactions over 10,000 sq ft in size – the largest being the letting to Sky of 31,000 sq ft at 26 Whitehall Road.
Ross Firth from Cushman & Wakefield and LOAF spokesperson said: “Despite demand particularly from tech, media and services sectors remaining robust, new city centre office development has remained low with the vacancy rate well below historic averages. This squeeze on supply, which is being seen in several regional cities, is putting upward pressure on city centre rents, with £32.50 per sq ft typically being quoted on the best space, but in some instances, we are seeing even higher.
“Based on known requirements and a potential post-Brexit bounce, the Forum believes the office market could see a further uptick in both rents and pre-letting activity in 2020.”
LOAF’s data also showed that a total of 84,483 sq ft of office space, across 28 deals, was transacted across the out-of-town market between October and December last year. Thorpe Park saw the only two deals over 10,000 sq ft – Quorn took 10,580 sq ft at Aeris, 3200 Thorpe Park and 10,402 sq ft was leased to Birds Eye at 3100 Thorpe Park. In total, 280,524 sq ft was transacted across the year in the out-of-town market, a 30% decrease compared to 2018 activity.
Alex Hailey from CBRE added: “In the out of town market, two separate deals over 10,000 sq ft at Thorpe Park underpinned the activity we saw in the final quarter. With the advent of any new space looking extremely limited until 2021, when proposals at Kirkstall Forge, White Rose Office Park and Thorpe Park are expected to hit the market, we could see office rents increasing over the £25 per sq ft mark.
“2019 was a year when political uncertainty continued to characterise the UK property market, but Leeds has proved its resilience. Looking ahead we expect good activity in 2020 but, like last year, the lack of good quality office product will continue to be an issue.”
The Leeds Office Agents’ Forum was established to collate and distribute definitive office market data. Its members are Avison Young, BNP Paribas, Bowcliffe, Carter Towler, Carter Jonas, CBRE, Colliers International, Cushman & Wakefield, Eddisons, Fox Lloyd Jones, JLL, Knight Frank, Lambert Smith Hampton, Ryden, Sanderson Weatherall, Savills and WSB.
