Birmingham office market picking up after a slow first half

THE latest figures relating to lettings in the central Birmingham office market suggest that the end of year figure could be somewhere close to the annual average.

Some 156,202 sq ft of office space was taken up in quarter three in 44 deals, according to Birmingham Office Market Forum.

The stand-out deals were the 22,924 sq ft of space taken by Vodafone at Colmore Plaza and the 21,226 sq ft taken by the Office for Legal Complaints at Quay Place.

When added to the 63 deals totalling 216,094 sq ft in the first half year, the year to date totals 372,296 sq ft in 107 deals.

If that level of lettings continues it would give an annual total of around 500,000 sq ft (496,394 sq ft), well below last year’s total of 664,147 sq ft, but market watchers suggest the Q3 figure is artificially low because it doesn’t include deals which have already been announced, most notably the 100,000 sq ft that high-speed rail company HS2 is taking at Two Snowhill for the HQ of its construction company.

And energy firm extraenergy has also announced it is seeking 35,000 sq ft in central Birmingham for its new headquarters.

Once these figures are added to the running total, the average figure achieved in recent years would seem to be well within reach.