According to our latest research, Oxford has several factors that make it an attractive proposition for investors looking to buy regional office stock. The main draws are the city’s excellent educational reputation and specialist occupier base.

The Savills UK Regional Cities report highlights that top rents for office space in Oxford are currently at £38 per sq ft, with a vacancy rate of 4.3 per cent. Occupiers, particularly those in the science and technology fields, continue to actively seek space on the region’s business and science parks. In both 2017 and 2018 take-up by tech and science firms accounted for over 80 per cent of total volumes and this isn’t something we expect to see slowing down in the coming year.

The rents in Oxford are currently the second highest of the UK’s regions with only Cambridge ahead at £41 per sq ft. Manchester and Birmingham, meanwhile, currently stand at £34 per sq ft and £33 per sq ft respectively.

This appetite for office space in the city’s out-of-town business and science parks is complemented by Oxford benefitting from 63 per cent of the population holding a qualification of NVQ Level 4 or above. However, there is definite improvement required in terms of graduate retention. Centre for Cities data states that Oxford has a graduate retention rate of just 18 per cent; only Cambridge with 17 per cent fares worse. Birmingham has the best rate in the country at 49 per cent followed by Glasgow at 46 per cent.

The combination of a strong office market underpinned by a low vacancy rate and high demand from specialist sectors makes the commercial market in Oxford an attractive proposition for investors.

According to our figures, of the £112 million invested into the city’s commercial property market in 2018, £36 million (32 per cent) went into office space. We expect to see more activity over the next couple of years as new development of office and commercial space creates some appealing investment opportunities.

Further information

Contact Savills Oxford