Regional office take-up was above the five-year average for the sixth consecutive quarter in Q1 2015, beating the average by 11%, according to research from DTZ.
Regional office availability also increased for the first time since Q2 2012, with grade A availability up by a third.
This increase in availability was driven by various speculative developments nearing completion, showing improving developer confidence.
Some 1.3m sq ft of speculative space is due to be delivered in Manchester and Glasgow alone over 2015-17.
Notable schemes include One New Bailey and Two St Peters Square in Manchester, and St Vincent Plaza, 1 West Regent Street and 110 Queen Street in Glasgow.
Despite this, many cities were still suffering from a shortage of availability, DTZ said. This was particularly the case for grade A stock, which had led to landlords taking a harder stance on incentives.
Rent-free periods fell 28% in the past year and headline rents were forecast to rise 8% on average over the next three years.
Ben Clarke, head of UK research at DTZ, said: “The increased speculative pipeline in regional UK office markets is good news for various key occupiers reaching lease events, but the total pipeline is still more than a third lower than completions during the 2004-08 period.
“This strength in prime occupier markets is helping support investment demand, which eroded prime UK regional office yields by a further 20 basis points in Q1.”
