Office rents in Bath city centre are now the highest in the South West, after a new headline rent of £31 per sq ft was set for the top floor of recently remodelled 20 Manvers Street.
National offices specialist Colliers International is predicting the letting will be a catalyst for further price increases for city centre office space, resulting in potential occupiers extending their search to outlying business parks.
James Preece, national offices director for the South West at Colliers International, said: “The Bath office market is now the most expensive in the region, and is also widely acknowledged to be one of the most constrained.
“We expect this combination will lead to considerable frustration for potential occupiers seeking space in the chronically under-supplied city centre, and anticipate that as a result many will change their search criteria and look beyond to business parks on the outskirts.”
Finola Ingham of joint agents Burston Cook said that those companies which decided to look at office options beyond central Bath would find they could still obtain high-quality office space, with additional benefits such as better parking ratio’s.
She added that other advantages of looking outside the city centre included greater flexibility in terms of leases and configurations of floorspace.
“For example, at The Office Village in the heart of Bath Business Park, we presently have available 5,580 sq ft across ground and first floors, at only £12 per sq ft, which is less than half the cost of the top rent in Bath city centre and features new carpeting throughout, raised floors and suspended ceilings, plus 20 on-site parking spaces,” he said.
“The 5,580 sq ft area can be sub-divided into smaller office accommodation to meet the needs of occupiers. Tenants can occupy suites of a variety of sizes on either short or long term arrangements.”
The space at The Office Village, on the south-western outskirts of Bath, is being marketed by Colliers International and local agents Burston Cook.
James Preece added: “This provides an excellent opportunity for businesses of various sizes to take-up space at this well-established business park, which is a purpose-built, mixed-use business park specifically developed to serve Bath and its surrounding area.”