Manchester was the most active regional city in the first quarter and the only UK market outside London with more than 300,000 sq ft of office lettings, according to EG’s latest UK Cities Guide.
While the northern city was – perhaps unsurprisingly – the most active market, Belfast came second with 266,000 sq ft, outperforming both Birmingham and Leeds. It was by far the busiest quarter for the Northern Ireland capital in the last five years.
The first quarter was otherwise a relatively subdued one for the regional market. Total take-up among the 14 cities in the guide came to £1.68bn – about 10% below the five-year quarterly average of £1.86bn.
Although it was broadly in line with previous first quarters, take-up was reliant on Manchester and Belfast’s strong performances. Leeds and Glasgow were the only other markets to outperform their quarterly average, and eight of the other 10 cities were down more than 30%.
Keep reading for an in-depth look at how the regions performed in Q1 and how they historically stack up against each other in leasing, investment, rents and availability.
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