Bristol 2014 office take up gets off to strong start

The Office Agents Society, made up of representatives from Bristol’s leading surveying practices, has released the office take up figures for Bristol for the first quarter of 2014.

The results show an increase in the number of transactions in both city centre and out of town markets, although the total take up is marginally down on the same period in 2013.

In Bristol city centre, there were 31 transactions totalling 115,722 sq ft in the first quarter of 2014, compared to 27 transactions totalling 145,555 sq ft between January and March last year.

In the out of town market, quarter one take up increased by 32% to 108,241 sq ft with 18 transactions, compared to 13 transactions totalling 81,650 sq ft last year.

Ian Wills of JLL commented: “The market has got off to a positive start in 2014, with an increased number of smaller deals across the city, reflecting the improvement in occupier confidence.”

Martin Booth at Knight Frank added: “There is very little Grade A space remaining in the city centre market and due to the steady conversion of secondary space into residential use under PDR, we’ve seen a significant erosion of supply.”