Take-up

H1 2023 take-up totalled 150,000 sq ft in Bristol city centre. This was below the long-term H1 average. Take-up was spread across 42 transactions at an average deal size of 3,542 sq ft. This means that the average deal size has decreased by 38% in Bristol city centre since 2013 due to increasing activity in the smaller size bands.

Grade A take-up was 47,000 ft, which accounted for 32% of the overall total. The largest Grade A deal in H1 was the 11,000 sq ft acquisition by Michelmores at 10 Victoria Street.

Supply

Total availability at the end of H1 stood at 958,000 sq ft. This represented a 13% increase on Q4 2022, equating to just 1.6 years of supply based on average demand. Savills deems anything below two years as an undersupplied market.

Prime availability was 214,000 sq ft at the end of Q1 2023. This has increased compared to the Q4 2022 total of 145,000 sq ft, but this is due to EQ and Assembly now being added to the supply total as they approach completion.

Take-up by business sector

The ‘Professional’ sector was the most active in H1 2023, accounting for 28% of total take-up. Take-up was spread across ten transactions which was double the ten-year H1 average deal count for the sector.

Elsewhere, ‘TMT’ was the second most active, accounting for 13% of total take-up. There was only one deal over 5,000 sq ft as demand was focussed on smaller, fitted spaces that allow these companies to avoid significant capital expenditure costs.

Rents

There was no increase in the prime rent H1 2023, which currently stands at £42.50 per sq ft. Bristol has experienced 13% prime rental growth since the end of 2019 to establish itself as having the joint highest prime rent in the UK Big 6 markets. Savills latest forecasts that prime rent will grow by a further 9% to at least £46.50 per sq ft by the end of 2027. Average Grade A rents also remain strong, with the H1 2023 average of £37.10 representing a growth of 21% over the past five years.

Interested in other areas of the UK?

View all of our latest H1 2023 Occupational Office Data research here.