Partner Article

Birmingham outskirts see 500% rise in office take-up

Birmingham city centre has taken a fall in office take-up, while out of town locations have enjoyed a significant spike, with rises of nearly 500%.

Businesses choosing to occupy buildings in the city centre in the first half of 2012 fell by 64% like-for-like, reflecting poor conditions in transactions for properties above 5,000 sq ft.

Disappointing results for property firms saw a 42% fall in investment to £49.74m from £86.43m in the first 6 months of 2011.

Decreases were put down to an imbalance in supply and demand for the Birmingham investment market, after research was carried out by real estate firm Bnp Paribas.

Carole Taylor, head of office agency for Bnp Paribas’ Birmingham office said: “After the city centre’s disappointing start to the year, we do expect take-up levels to improve, with enquiries slowly picking-up and an improving deals market following the recent signing of Birmingham’s first 15,000 and 20,000 sq ft lettings this year.”

Landlords have been forced to look to alternative uses for properties, while headline rents remain stagnant at £27.00 per square foot, where they have stood for the last three years.

Availability in Birmingham’s centre is expected to increase in the second half of the year, which currently stands at 2.89m sq ft in the city.

Ms Taylor added:“Looking forward, Birmingham’s headline rents are likely to stay the same and favourable tenant incentives remain a prevalent market feature for some time.

“Despite the slow start to the year, there is real potential for total 2012 investment sales to match the 2011 level,”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .