Liverpool office market robust
THE Liverpool office market is still “extremely robust”, with demand from both the private and public sectors holding up well, according to one property agent.
DTZ said it is advising on three property requirements totalling 350,000 sq ft which, if completed during 2009, will have a big impact on the annual take-up figure.
It added that with Mersey Travel pre-letting 130,000 sq ft at Mann Island, it is possible that take-up by the end of the year will exceed the five year average.
There will be no new speculative development completed in 2010 within the city centre, but 2011 will see Mersey Travel take three floors in Mann Island, which it has pre-let from Neptune Developments. DTZ added that English Cities Fund may complete the speculative development of 4 St Paul’s Square (100,000 sq ft) during 2011.
Rental values, both headline and the net rental – after the impact of the incentives has been taken into account – are reducing but it warned that this trend is likely to be reversed during 2010 as the supply of quality product is let.
Ken Bishop, director at DTZ, said: “At a time when the economy is suffering from the impact of the recession, it is good to see that there are so many positives in the Liverpool office market which can be drawn upon. Whilst this will ensure that activity in the market continues, the benefits will unfortunately not be felt by all.”
But the agency’s comments are at odds with the latest RICS property survey for the first three months of 2009. It said that tenant demand across all sectors continued to fall in the first quarter although the pace of decline eased back.
Surveyors expect rental declines to accelerate on the back of a record increase in available floor space, the report said.
Around 65% more chartered surveyors reported a rise than a fall in available floor space up from 57% in the last quarter. And surveyors are now more pessimistic than ever before with 80% expecting a fall than rise in rents.
