According to Savills H1 Leeds Office Survey, the take-up of offices increased by 5% in the first half of 2008 compared to the half year average of the last five years. However when compared to H1 2007 take-up is actually down by 6%.

The survey found that 252,262 sq ft of office space was taken up in H1, with the average for H1 of the last five years being 239,821 sq ft. When looking at the remainder of 2008, there is over 250,000 sq ft of active enquiries for space in the city and Savills is confident that take-up for 2008 will match or exceed the annual average over the last five years of 576,023 sq ft.

Rents also increased in H1 with the highest rent being paid at £27 sq ft, which is an 8% increase from Q4 2007 when the highest rent was £25 sq ft. Leeds’ city core currently suffers from a lack of grade A office space and rents are expected to rise to £28 sq ft by the end of this year.

Clare Burke, associate for commercial research at Savills, told PIN: “The stability of office rentals in Leeds is down to the balance of supply and demand. There is approximately 60,000 sq ft of grade A office space in the city core and this is highly sought after. Although there is lots of supply to come on stream over the next year this is predominantly based around the fringes of the city and is unlikely to impact much on rents.”