Birmingham’s office market records best half-year performance since 2020
The Birmingham office market has seen its best half-year performance since the pandemic, after 168,512 sq ft was taken across the city.
According to KWB’s Q2 2024 Birmingham Office Market Review, when combined with the 200,282 sq ft let in Q1, this is the highest six month take-up of space since 2020.
Take-up of office space in Birmingham is now just 18,400 sq ft shy of the ten year average.
29 transactions were completed between April and June, the largest being a public sector deal of 58,697 sq ft at Three Snowhill, representing one third of the total space let this quarter.
The professional services sector represented the largest proportion of movement this quarter, with the next largest deal being Cushman & Wakefield taking 11,596 sq ft of office space at One Colmore Square, followed by Howden’s deal of 10,164 sq ft at 45 Church Street.
More than two-thirds of the deal came from the smaller-sized office market of less than 5,000 sq ft.
Malcolm Jones, Director of Office Agency at KWB, said: “The first six months of 2024 have seen a particularly strong recovery for the Birmingham office market, with figures nearly 40,000 sq ft above the five year average. These figures help put to bed any previous concerns that businesses would continue to implement work-from-home protocols rather than take-up office space in the city.”
“Demand across the smaller-sized office market continues to grow, with 19 of the 29 deals this quarter being less than 5,000 sq ft. This demonstrates a continued demand for higher quality, smaller offices with communal areas and on-site amenities; a trend that is very likely to remain. At the other end of the scale, just three of the deals were for office space above 10,000 sq ft.”
