Year-to-date office take-up in Southampton has already outperformed full 2011 figures.
In the first half of 2012, take-up in Southampton hit just over 120,000 sq ft – a huge rise on the circa 30,000 sq ft recorded in the same period last year.
The research by CBRE also reveals the figures for the first half year of this year are already double the total take-up in 2011 of around 60,000 sq ft.
Insurance firm Ageas’s purchase of the 87,308 sq ft Portswood House on Hampshire Corporate Park for its own occupation – the biggest occupier transaction in the region since 2007 – is the main factor behind the strong first-half performance.
James Brounger, CBRE managing director, South central region, said: “I don’t think take-up will be as high in the second half of 2012 because there are no large-scale deals on the horizon. However, there is a high level of demand, so I think the second half will be higher than the same period last year.”
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
