Glasgow’s property market got off to an impressive start in the first three months of 2016 with total take-up dwarfing the same quarter last year.
Take-up in the city centre was 288,987 sq. ft. compared with 142,358 sq. ft. in 2015, representing an increase of 103 per cent.
It was also up 37 per cent on the previous quarter (Oct-Dec 2015), where city centre take-up was 211,649 sq. ft. Across the Greater Glasgow area, take-up was recorded at 350,871 sq. ft.
In total, there were 58 deals completed with 31 of those for properties in the City Centre. The largest deal saw Morgan Stanley pre-let 154,814 sq. ft. at Bothwell Exchange – the biggest deal in the city since Scottish Power pre-let 220 St Vincent Street in 2013.
Vacancy rates in the city centre have decreased to 10 per cent, with Grade A vacancy down to 2.6 per cent. The immediate supply of Grade A space is 493,171 sq. ft, of which 85 per cent is new build.
The City Centre headline rent was £30 per sq. ft. and is expected to remain stable throughout 2016 with the demand for new build Grade A offices.
Other major transactions in Q1 included ACCA letting 55,744 sq. ft. at 110 Queen Street and Registers of Scotland taking 17,924 sq. ft. at St Vincent Plaza.
Alistair Reid, director for JLL in Glasgow, said: “This has been a very strong start to the year, with the market surging ahead of the five-year quarterly average of 121,000 sq. ft. With further lettings at Grade A buildings causing supply to noticeably decrease, we expect to see refurbished Grade B stock continue to return to the market. With those supply issues, occupiers looking to move on will have to think twice about their relocation strategy in order to not be disappointed.”