Take-up

Edinburgh city centre take-up during Q3 totalled 115,000 sq ft, which was achieved across 29 deals, 8% higher than the five-year average Q3 number of deals. Take-up was 20% higher than the total during Q3 2023 and also 36% higher than the pre-Covid Q3 total in 2019. Year-to-date take-up totals 277,000 sq ft, 9% lower than the same period in 2019.

Grade A and Prime take-up totalled 32,000 sq ft in Q3, therefore accounting for 28% of the overall total. Grade A and Prime take-up in Q1–Q3 totalled 112,000 sq ft, which accounts for 40% of the total.

Supply

Total availability in Edinburgh at the end of Q3 2024 totals 1.1 million sq ft, a decrease of 3% on the previous quarter. Consequently, this means that the vacancy rate now stands at 12.6%, a decrease of 30 basis points from Q2 2024, continuing to show occupier demand within the market.

Grade A and Prime availability total 608,000 sq ft, therefore accounting for 53% of the availability total. The Grade A and Prime vacancy rates at the end of Q3 stood at 4.4% and 2.2%, respectively.

Take-up by business sector

The most active sector during Q3 2024 was the 'Business & Consumer' sector, which leased a combined total of 35,000 sq ft, with two deals done in the quarter, therefore accounting for 31% of take-up. The largest deal of the sector and the quarter was acquired by Diligenta Ltd, which leased 30,000 sq ft at 30 Lothian Road.

Another notable business sector during Q3 was the 'TMT' sector, which accounted for 16% of the total by leasing 19,000 sq ft of space. The largest deal of the sector was 6,000 sq ft, which was acquired by Patria at New Clarendon.

Rents

There was an increase in the Prime headline rent during Q3, which has now reached £45.50 per sq ft, the second highest in the Big 6 markets. Looking at the further growth prospects, the five-year outlook for the market is optimistic with Savills predicting that the Prime rent will be at or above £52 per sq ft by the end of 2028, representing a 14% increase on current rental levels.

Interested in other areas of the UK?

View all of our latest Q3 2024 Occupational Office Data research here.