Take-up

Q3 2022 take-up for the Leeds city centre market totalled 137,000 sq ft across 34 transactions, which was 10% above the five-year average for deal count in Q3. Furthermore, this was the highest quarterly take-up recorded so far in 2022, demonstrating the positive momentum building in the Leeds market.

Grade A take-up reached 102,000 sq ft, which accounted for 75% of overall take-up. This was an improvement on the five-year average Q3 Grade A proportion of 62% and is indicative of the continued flight to quality in the market.

Supply

Total supply at the end of Q3 stood at 793,000 sq ft. This means that total supply has decreased by 8% so far in 2022. Furthermore, Grade A supply stood at 289,000 sq ft at the end of Q3, meaning that total Grade A availability has fallen by a significant 27% this year.

The total vacancy rate for the market is 6.4%, with the Grade A vacancy rate standing at 2.4% for Leeds city centre, highlighting the supply constraints present in the market.

Take-up by business sector

The Business & Consumer services sector was the most active in Q3, accounting for 28% of total take-up. There were eight deals in the sector in Q3 2022, which was 33% above the five-year average Q3 deal count.

Elsewhere, the TMT sector was the second most active, recording 32,000 sq ft take-up, which equated to 23% of the overall total across eight completed transactions. The largest letting in the sector for Q3 was the 11,000 sq ft acquisition by XR Games at Half Roundhouse.

Rents

There was an increase in prime rent in Q3 2022, which now currently stands at £36.00 per sq ft. This a notable success for the market which has now seen 37% rental growth since 2015. Equally, average Grade A rents have increased significantly over the same period. The average Grade A rent in 2022 is £29.13 per sq ft, which represents a 18% increase on the pre-Covid 2019 Grade A average.

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View all of our latest Q3 2022 Occupational Office Data research here.