Thames Valley Grade A office supply down 12% year-on-year – Lambert Smith Hampton
Lambert Smith Hampton says its latest data on the market for available office property in the Thames Valley shows there is a shortage of Grade A stock across the region.
Take-up of office property in the Thames Valley during the third quarter totalled 510,697 sq ft, which is below the Q3 2010 level of 610,253 sq ft. For the year to date, however, LSH says office take-up is higher year-on-year at 1.24m sq ft, compared with 943,755 sq ft for the first nine months of 2010.
The supply of office space in the Thames Valley area at the end of the third quarter was 11.25m sq ft, which was 6.8% below the year-ago level of 12.07m sq ft. Grade A office supply accounted for 27% of the total, at 3.39m sq ft. This is a fall of 12% from the previous year’s total at the end of Q3, when 3.86m sq ft of Grade A space was available, LSH says. (The data covers take-up and availability above 5,000 sq ft in the region).
Nick Coote, head of LSH’s Thames Valley team, says “the quality vs. supply dynamic is becoming an increasing issue for the Thames Valley’s office market”. While take-up is quickly reducing the level of available office properties, he says there is only limited replacement stock in sight. “Over the coming year we hope to see commercial property investors becoming braver, and occupiers relocating due to lease events or resizing of their business operations are likely to struggle when it comes to acquiring the best quality space,” he notes.
