Take-up

H1 2022 take-up, totalling 378,000 sq ft, was the second highest H1 take-up since 2008. This was 71% above the H1 2021 total and represented a significant 50% increase on the five-year H1 average.

Grade A take-up accounted for 41% of Q1 take-up. This represented a much larger Grade A proportion than the five-year H1 average of 23%. This included the 24,000 sq ft acquisition by Pax8 at No.2 The Distillery and the 23,000 sq ft letting to Deloitte at Halo.

Supply

Total supply currently stands at 770,000 sq ft. This equates to just 1.3 years of supply, and with Savills regarding anything under two years as an undersupply, availability within the Bristol city centre market remains extremely limited.

The current Grade A supply level in the market is 121,000 sq ft. This represents a significant decrease of 30% on the Q4 2021 total and is indicative of the severe lack of Grade A supply within the market. As such, Grade A vacancy rate currently stands at 1% at the end of H1 2022.

Take-up by business sector

The TMT sector continues to perform strongly in Bristol, recording 105,000 sq ft take-up in Q1 2022, which accounted for 45% of the overall total. This included the 55,000 sq ft acquisition by Paymentsense UK at CEG’s EQ building, where construction is due to complete in Q1 2023.

Elsewhere, it was also a promising start to the year for the Professional sector. Total take-up of 64,000 sq ft accounted for 27% of the overall total take-up, which in terms of quantum has already surpassed the annual total achieved in 2021.

Rents

The prime rent in Bristol increased by 12% in H1 2022 to £42.50 per sq ft at half year end. With this latest increase, prime rent in Bristol has grown by 49% since 2016, and at £42.50 per sq ft, Bristol has the highest prime rent in the UK Big Six markets. Equally, average Grade A rents have also increased significantly during this period. The average Grade A rent in H1 2022 was £38.50 per square foot, a 5% increase on the 2021 Grade A average. Savills expects average Grade A rents to increase as the headline rent becomes more established within the market.

Interested in other areas of the UK?

View all of our latest H1 2022 Occupational Office Data research here.