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Business Monitor
MAY 2012
Monitor Focus Business People Place Housing
Office take-up declines
In its latest assessment of the property market, DTZ highlights that office take-up fell during the first quarter of 2012, although headline prime rents remained unchanged. Investor sentiment is still fragile, though has not worsened since the start of the year.
Quarterly take-up in Manchester city centre was 170,000 sq. ft in Q1 2012, down from the figure of 258,000 sq. ft in Q4 2011. This reflected weaker demand for top grade property over the last five quarters after a glut of large grade A deals ended in 2010. Office availability in Manchester fell during Q1 2012 to around 3.2million sq. ft, a trend that began in the final quarter of last year. Prime rents in the city centre remain at £30 per sq. ft and DTZ expects rises in 2013 onwards.
The economic downturn saw the number of speculative office developments grind to a halt in Manchester, though Allied London has recently announced plans for a £14 million speculative scheme at Spinningfields.
Called “l+”, it will provide 160,000 sq. ft of office space over seven storeys, and work on the building will start in early 2013. Each storey will be built with just a concrete ceiling and floor, enabling tenants to decide on the specification for their own space, in line with the demands for innovative new flexible space forecast by the recent Five Cities study that was presented at the annual MIPIM real estate exhibition. A summary report of this research is available here. (414kb)
Another important dataset which has been recently released is the Q1 Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), which gauges the opinions of more than 800 companies across GM. Looking at the key issue of job creation, the QES reports that the number of manufacturing firms in GM attempting to recruit was around 48% in Q1 2012, down from 50.9% in Q4 2011. In the services sector, businesses attempting to recruit fell to 45.1% in Q1 2012 from 48.2% in Q4 2011.
The proportion of businesses reporting recruitment difficulties increased in the manufacturing sector to 74.1% in Q1 2012 from 69% in Q4. Businesses in the services sector reporting recruitment difficulties in Q1 2012 remained fairly consistent at just under 69%.
DOWNLOAD THE BACKGROUND DATA
- Mergers and acquisitions (48kb)
- GM Chamber data (66kb)
- Commercial property market (1189kb)
DISCLAIMER
All data contained in the Manchester Monitor, and all Monitor-related reports, has been compiled by New Economy from a range of sources and is published for general information purposes only. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the data and other material contained in this report, the Commission for the New Economy does not accept any liability (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) to any person for any loss or damage suffered as a result of any errors or omissions. The information, opinions and forecasts set out in the report should not be relied upon to replace professional advice on specific matters, and no responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from acting, as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the Commission for the New Economy.
