Take-up

Q2 2022 take-up, totalling 126,000 sq ft across 26 completed lettings, was 53% above the Q1 2022 total. Furthermore, this was 4% above the figure achieved in Q2 2021. The total take-up for H1 2022 was 208,000 sq ft. This was 14% above the total achieved in H1 2021.

Grade A take-up of 62,000 sq ft accounted for 49% of total take-up in Q2 2022. This was in line with the Q2 average Grade A proportion between 2017 and 2021, which was 48%. Grade A take-up in H1 2022 totalled 85,000 sq ft, which accounted for 41% of total take-up.

Supply

Total supply stood at 1.6 million sq ft at the end of Q2 2022. From a Grade A perspective, supply stood at 485,000 sq ft with just 131,000 sq ft of new build Grade A available supply. This equates to just 0.3 years of supply based on average take-up.

Total vacancy rate for the market has increased 10 basis points in H1 2022 to 10.8%. Conversely, the Grade A vacancy rate has decreased by 220 basis points standing at 3.3% at quarter end.

Take-up by business sector

The Professional sector was the most active sector in H1 2022, accounting for 24% of overall take-up. This was made up of 12 deals at an average of 4,085 sq ft per deal.

Elsewhere, Extraction & Utilities was the second most active sector, recording 35,000 sq ft of take-up, which accounted for 17% of the overall total. This included the new build Grade A deal to OVO Energy and the recently completed Cadworks building.

Rents

Prime rent remained stagnant at £35.25 per square foot in H1 2022. That said, this comes off the back of 8% growth in 2021 alone and 15% growth since 2015. Equally, average Grade A rents have been steadily increasing over the past six years. The average Grade A rent in H1 2022 was £30.00 per square foot, which represents a 7% increase on the 2020 average.

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