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Leeds’ office market one of the UK’s strongest

According to research by Jones Lang LaSalle, Leeds and Manchester office markets were the two strongest regional performers in the first half of the year outside the South East.

During the period, take-up of 438,000 sq ft and 466,000 sq ft respectively was recorded by the property firm, accounting for almost half of all take-up within the ‘Big Six’ regional markets it monitors.

Leeds has had an unprecedented start between January and June, in terms of occupational activity which saw pre-lets to both KPMG and Shulmans in the first three months of the year, with the second quarter posting a further five lettings of over 10,000 sq ft

Jeff Pearey, head of office agency in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Leeds office, said: “Across the regional office markets we have seen far more significant Grade A deals completing in the first six months of the year. This was particularly apparent in Leeds where Grade A take-up accounted for 74% of all deals, compared to just 41% in the whole of 2012.”

According to Jones Lang LaSalle, occupational confidence in the Leeds property market has been buoyed recently by improving economic news in the UK with strengthening sentiment indicators, buoyant retail sales and a recovery in employment over recent months.

Jeff Pearey added: “While the outlook for employment growth is mixed across the UK, with London expected to lead the recovery, growth in office jobs is not expected to be confined to the capital. Among the key regional cities monitored, independent research by Oxford Economics has highlighted Leeds as showing the strongest growth in office jobs over the next five years. This is superb news for our city and the ongoing growth of our regional economy.”

Jones Lang LaSalle also points to continuing signs of confidence returning to the regional market spearheaded by speculative new starts in Leeds.

Activity in the UK’s key regional office markets strengthened significantly in the first half of 2013, with office take-up volumes of 3.4 million sq ft, up 43% compared to the equivalent period last year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gatehouse .