Commercial real estate firm Savills’ research predicts that the Manchester office space market is set to reach new heights this year. In 2010, rents reached a maximum of GBP 28.50 per square foot.
The report said that the slowly recovering economy will boost demand, but that a shortage of Grade A office space will lead to higher rents.
Patrick Joynson, director at Savills, said: “The imbalance between demand for institutional office stock in Manchester city centre and supply will start to place real upward pressure on rents, especially as demand starts to pick up.
“The real issue for Manchester now is finding solutions to the inevitable mid-term shortage of Grade A space in the market.”
Developers that find funding and start their projects before others could enjoy considerable advantages down the road, Joynson added.
“Those that secure funding and bring forward their developments could enjoy considerable ‘first mover’ advantage whilst others will be forced to hold off until a later phase of development”, he said.
Savills predicted that by the end of 2011, approximately 850,000 square feet of office space in Manchester will have been taken up.
Meanwhile, the Greenbuild Expo, a sustainable building event, is to return to Manchester Central. The event will feature two days of demonstrations, workshops and other training for those in the building trade. The event is primarily targeted at those working in the non-domestic building sector, i.e., hotels, leisure, and offices.
Experts from Manchester City Council, Gateshead Housing, Procure Plus, PRP Architects and other outfits will be speaking at the event.
Editor’s notes: In 2022, the take-up of office space lettings in Manchester was 1.2 million square feet.
Prime rents reached £40 per square foot as upward pressure continued due to tenants’ flight to quality. Many large occupiers were seeking space that offered environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials and the type of space that does this is normally the best in class.
At the end of 2022, there was 640,000 square feet of speculative new-build space under construction. Of this, 545,000 square feet was due to be completed during 2023.
As a result, there may be a supply gap of high-quality office space in 2024, leading to further upward pressure on Manchester city centre office rents.
The largest deal of 2022 was the Government Property Agency (GPA)’s acquisition of 130,000 square feet at Ask Development’s First Street.
In 2025, Manchester’s total take-up via office lettings was 1.14 million square feet, slightly above the five-year average but 80,000 square feet below 2024’s total.
The largest office deal of 2025 was Autotrader signing a lease for 130,000 square feet across eight floors at Bruntwood SciTech’s No.3 Circle Square for their new Manchester headquarters, relocating from No1 First Street.
In Q1 2026, the prime headline office rent in Manchester was £45 per square foot; however, in June, a new headline rent of £48 per square foot was set when design and engineering consultancy Arcadis acquired 10,000 square feet at Island on John Dalton Street building, developed by HBD and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
Overall vacancy at the end of the first quarter stood at 10.9 per cent and this was forecast to decline as occupier
demand continues to absorb available supply.
The development pipeline was forecast to remain stable at 690,000 square feet, although pre-letting activity in 2026 was expected to reduce future supply.
In 2026, the Green Build International Conference + Expo was due to be held in New York on October 22nd and 23rd.