Manchester, Edinburgh and Leeds are the three cities to watch for speculative office development starts this year, according to JLL.
Last year saw five speculative schemes begin construction totalling 680,000 sq ft – two in Bristol and three in Glasgow.
JLL added the shift in the market is such that pure speculative development is firmly back on the agenda.
Speaking ahead of the firm’s Big Six Cities briefing JLL’s head of national offices Jeremy Richards said: “Don’t forget that four years ago we were saying that we are never going to do speculative development again, it was always going to be underpinned by a pre-let.”
The UK regional cities will also become the target for global investors with Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow predicted to see the most activity.
stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com
