Take up of office space in Bristol city centre increased by nearly a quarter last year compared to 2012, figures released this afternoon reveal.
The data from the Bristol Office Agents Society reflects a major upturn in confidence in the city’s prime office market – with many local property industry figures now expecting a spate of speculative schemes to meet demand for quality space.
More than 504,500 sq ft of space was taken in the city centre, a year-on-year increase of 23% and up on the five-year average, according to the figures.
Take up in the out-of-town market was not as strong 229,858 sq ft of space let, giving a total for the city of 734,366 sq ft against 660,598 sq ft in 2012 – an 11.2% increase.
Richard Kidd from GVA’s office agency team said: “Such a dramatic uplift in city centre take up is extremely encouraging and another indicator that occupier confidence has returned to the market. We expect this to continue into the year ahead.”
Chris Grazier of Bristol property agents HTC (Hartnell Taylor Cook) added: “The strong take up leaves the city with a diminishing supply of good quality space. This bodes well for more speculative office development in the city.”
Last week Bristol Business News revealed that two of the city’s top commercial property figures were predicting a strong recovery.
Tim Davies, head of Colliers International’s Bristol office, forecast that the city’s important financial and banking sector would return to its 2008 level within three years, especially as London’s property market threatens to overheat, forcing finance firms to look outside the capital for expansion.
And Philip Morton, from CBRE’s Bristol base, said the city would bounce back faster than most others in the UK due to its strong commercial base. He said investors were already looking to do deals in Bristol’s commercial property market.
Bristol’s first major speculative office developments since the recession took hold – the £35m, 100,000 sq ft, 2 Glass Wharf scheme – is now underway at Temple Quay.
Pictured at the inauguration of 2 Glass Wharf in December: Planning minister Nick Boles signs a steel beam watched by Rorie Henderson from developer Salmon Harvester, left, and Bristol Mayor George Ferguson
