Office take-up across Birmingham reached 114,771 sq ft in Q2, the lowest level of quarterly take-up since Q2 2021. Activity was particularly muted in the city centre which saw 41,357 sq ft of take-up in six deals. Ongoing economic and political uncertainty continues to weigh on businesses’ confidence with some occupiers opting to defer real estate decisions until market conditions improve.
The largest deal of the quarter was clothing retail AYBL buying 25,247 sq ft at Juniper, Solihull. In line with other regional markets the Professional services sector continues to be the most active sector in the region, accounting for 49% of take-up over the last 12 months. This underlines the sectors’ role in supporting market activity despite a challenging leasing environment.
Prime rent remained at £52.00 psf, which reflects an annual increase of 14%. Restrained levels of development activity will continue to place upward pressure on prime rents. Indeed, with just 263,000 sq ft due to be delivered this year in the city centre, below the 10-year average of 330,000 sq ft of deliveries seen per annum.