Take-up

Q4 2021 take-up, totalling 249,944 sq ft, was the highest quarterly take-up figure in 2021 and the second highest quarterly take-up in the last five years. This took the annual take-up figure to 540,910 sq ft, which is just 7% below the ten-year average.

Grade A take-up accounted for 20% of Q4 take-up, which was the highest proportion of any quarter in 2021. This was boosted by the 27,000 sq ft letting at the EQ building to engineering firm Arup.

Supply

Current total supply is 660,854 sq ft, which represents only a marginal increase of 1% from 2020.

Grade A supply currently sits at 171,946 sq ft. This represents an increase on the 2020 and 2019 figures but only due to the introduction of Halo and 10 Victoria Street into the supply figure. Despite this, the total and Grade A vacancy rates only increased marginally by 0.1% and 0.6% respectively in 2021.

Take-up by business sector

The TMT sector was the most active this year, accounting for 31% of take-up. It was also a strong year for Public Services, Education and Health, which took a 29% share of overall take-up in 2021.

Elsewhere, Professional take-up was down slightly, totalling 19,625 sq ft and accounting for just 9% of the total market figure.

Rents

There was no change in the prime rent in Bristol in 2021, which stood at £38 per square foot at year end. That being said, the prime rent in the market has increased 55% since 2015. Average Grade A rents have also increased significantly during this period. The average Grade A rent in 2021 was £36.60 per square foot, an 18.9% increase on 2019.

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