Central Manchester office rents have risen by 11% in the past 12 months amid continuing supply famine, say researchers at DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.
Top rents now start at £24 per sq ft (£258 per sq m), reports DTZ, which it claims indicates that central Manchester’s office market is well placed to weather the gathering economic storm.
Take-up in the central Manchester office market has increased during the six months to October 1, up to 860,000 sq ft (80,000 sq m) from 700,000 sq ft (65,000 sq m) in the previous six months, say DTZ.
But the 23% increase in take-up was balanced by a modest 17% increase in supply over the same period. DTZ say availability of central Manchester office space rose by 330,000 sq ft (32,000 sq m) to 720,000 sq ft (70,000 sq m). Total availability is now just 3% of office stock.
Ken Bishop, director at DTZ Manchester, said: “While statistics show that availability has increased, the critical factor is that the availability ratio is less than 3%. This level does not provide a wealthy range of choice for prospective occupiers, a problem exacerbated by the low levels of new development, and the fact that about half of available supply is of poor quality.”
EGi News 03/12/01
