Noticeable lack of demand for office space in Liverpool in H1

A number of active requirements make for brighter prospects for remainder of 2011

Article posted: 12 Sep 2011

According to CBRE’s H1 2011 Market Overview of office space in Liverpool, the city saw a noticeable lack of demand in the first half of the year, with take-up totals reaching just 37,330 sq ft, compared to the 167,712 sq ft transacted over the same period in 2010.

Most deals which have transacted in H1 have come from small private sector occupants who are seeking value and making the most of the current market conditions –indeed only one deal in the first quarter was in excess of 4,000 sq ft and the average size per deal through the six months was 2,400 sq ft.

The prospects for the second half are much better, kickstarted in August with the city's largest deal which saw Weightmans Solicitors take 95,000 sq ft at The Plaza. A further 95,000 sq ft of active requirements should complete before the end of the year.

Commenting on the figures, Mark Worthington, Director, Agency at CBRE said: “Whilst take-up in the first half of 2011 was very disappointing, there are a number of large active requirements in the market so the prospects for 2011 as a whole are not as bad as these figures suggest and we still anticipate that take-up will exceed the level recorded in 2010.”

The impact of the Enterprise Zone at Liverpool/Wirral Waters could become a key factor in the market, in addition CBRE see call centres becoming a source of future demand, having been out of the market for 5 years, driven by higher costs in locations such as India and a desire for UK service companies to improve their customer service offering. This was demonstrated in early July when Santander returned 200 jobs to Liverpool and 100 jobs each to offices in Glasgow and offices in Leicester from India.

A full copy of the report is available at http://www.cbre.co.uk/uk_en/research/report_results

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Posted by Julie