Member Article

Fall in city centre take-up

~~Compared to the second quarter of 2013, when regional office take-up reached 158,662 sq ft, take-up for the same quarter this year at 215,618 sq ft suggests an improvement in the market says the Offices Group of commercial property agents.

“True there has been an increase in take-up but the figures disguise a fall in city centre take-up to just 18,820 sq ft compared to the same period a year previously when the figure was very nearly 50,000 sq ft,” says Chris Pearson, partner, Gavin Black & Partners.

“The number of transactions is low at nine compared to the out of town office sector which had 34 transactions totalling 196,798 sq ft.”

Mr Pearson adds: “In the city centre all transactions were below 5,500 sq ft and out of town, with the exception of five transactions, all were below 10,000 sq ft. This is not to say the market is inactive. We did expect the first half of this year to be a continuation of 2013 which saw take-up exceed 1 million sq ft in the year and there is a strong market for space in smaller sizes from a wide-range of business sectors.

“Perhaps the lower level of transactions reflects caution in the market place which does remain after five years in recession. Occupiers may be being timid but a broader picture does show businesses making decisions and investing for the future.

“There are over 120,000 sq ft of active requirements in need of accommodation within Newcastle City Centre. This is the perfect barometer and support to suggest there is renewed confidence and improved business sentiment. It does however take time to deliver sentiment into actual take up with obvious lag between sentiment and delivery through the acquisition process.”

The Offices Group statistics exclude short-term lettings in serviced accommodation, a sector that has been particularly active this year.

The Offices Group comprises BNP Paribas Real Estate, Bradley Hall, DTZ, Gavin Black & Partners, GVA, Knight Frank, Lambert Smith Hampton, Naylors Chartered Surveyors, Sanderson Weatherall, Storeys Edward Symmons.

ENDS

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