With demand increasing and supply drying up across the city, there are strong levels of absorption, and the overall outlook is positive for rented office space in Birmingham, Colliers International maintains.
In fact, analysts at the commercial real estate company consider the office space market in the Midlands’ major urban area to be more positive than they have ever seen it, reports the Birmingham Post.
“Strong absorption is being fuelled by the twin drivers of improving demand for office accommodation, coupled with the shortage of new space coming onto the market,” explained David Smeeton, head of Colliers International in Birmingham.
“There is no doubt that across the range of market data, the news is far more positive than at any time since we began analysing the Birmingham market,” he added.
Meanwhile, the office space fit-out company ISG has revealed plans to move to a new office space in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter as part of its ongoing expansion.
Editor’s notes: Figures released in 2023 revealed that office space take-up in Birmingham through lettings deals totalled just under 693,000 square feet across 115 deals.
This figure was below the 10-year average of 745,000 square feet but higher than the totals in both 2020 and 2021, demonstrating the city’s resilience during and after the pandemic.
The largest office leasing deal in 2022 was the acquisition of 110,000 square feet of space at One Centenary Way by bank giant Goldman Sachs.
This was followed by the 43,766 sq ft rented by education provider Global Banking School at Norfolk House and the 30,811 square feet of office space rented by global civil engineering company Mott MacDonald at 10 Livery Street.
It was also noted that Birmingham city centre had seen a wave of lettings deals to serviced office providers, with
combined take-up amounting to 650,000 square feet in the three-year period prior to the pandemic.
And further deals with these operators continued throughout 2022.
These and other serviced office providers in Birmingham offer a range of office space and workspace solutions that are more flexible than leased office space in general and, in most cases, provide all-inclusive office space rentals.
These include serviced private offices, fitted, furnished and managed offices and a range of coworking solutions.
Birmingham’s Q3 2025 take-up totalled 207,000 square feet, which represented a 37 per cent increase on Q2. Prime office rents at the end of 2025 stood at £46.50 per square foot per annum.
Q4 was Birmingham’s strongest since 2017, reaching 288,018 square feet, representing a 110 per cent increase on Q4 2024 and 85 per cent above the five-year Q4 average.
Overall take-up in Birmingham in 2025 was 703,430 square feet, representing 2 per cent of the five-year annual average.
There were 100 office leasing transactions completed in 2025, which was 3 per cent more than in 2024 and 7 per cent above the five-year average. Ten of the lettings in 2025 were over 20,000 square feet.
ISG ceased trading and went into administration in September 2024.