Manchester office occupier activity rising – MOAF
Office occupier activity in Manchester city centre increased during the second quarter, says the Manchester Office Agents Forum (MOAF). After a slow start to the year, take-up reached 174,978 sq ft for Q2, up 36% from the first quarter and taking the total for the first half of 2011 to 304,000 sq ft. This is slightly below the 317,000 sq ft recorded during H1 2010.
Lambert Smith Hampton’s David Thwaites, who is a spokesperson for MOAF, said: “It is understood that 2010 was an unprecedented year for occupational activity, which was always going to be difficult to maintain in the current climate. However, Manchester continues to outperform other competing regional centres and should benefit from several large requirements likely to be satisfied before the end of the year.”
MOAF says supply is still declining, particularly for Grade A stock, where less than two years’ supply now remains. Large-scale speculative development is still to be announced, it adds. Landlords with high-quality Grade A buildings are now adopting a more selective approach to agreeing deals, which is likely to continue as Grade A stock continues to be absorbed and average Grade A rents are expected to rise.
In South Manchester, Q2 take-up rose 38% from the first quarter, but there was a lack of deals over 10,000 sq ft, MOAF said. Take-up was therefore down 31% from the total recorded for the second quarter of 2010, which was boosted by several high-profile major deals.
