Figures on the city in north-east England from BNP Paribas Real Estate show a 54 per cent increase in office space take-up for the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 2010.
Indeed, the scale of occupancy deals struck on offices in Newcastle in the first three quarters of 2011 exceeds that of the entire previous year. One of the more significant recent agreements saw the broadcaster BSkyB sign up for 36,000 sq ft of city centre space.
BNP Paribas reports that only 110,000 sq ft of prime office space remains on the market in central Newcastle.
“Occupiers looking for a competitive deal on city centre space should act now as we expect their window of opportunity to close shortly,” said the firm’s local office agency director Aidan Baker.
“Waiting could mean having to compromise on location, size and quality of space as well as the incentives.”
The property advisory firm’s report also covered Newcastle’s out-of-town office market, and take-up in that region has also increased sharply this year compared with last. However, an oversupply of offices remains in sites surrounding the largest city in the north-east of England.
According to the report, Newcastle’s out-of-town market had roughly 1.7 million square feet of Grade A office space available to rent at the end of September.
“This is not going to change in the short-term as developers continue to build new stock due to the excellent incentives still available in former Enterprise Zones,” Baker remarked.
Editor’s notes: The total office space take-up in Newcastle in 2022 totalled 239,410 square feet with headline rents reaching £28 per sqft per annum.
Prime office rents were expected to reach £30 per square foot in 2023 at properties such as Bank House, and further development of high-quality space will push them to £32 per square foot in 2024.
One of the largest deals in 2022 was white shoe law firm Clifford Chance’s acquisition of 15,182 square feet at The Lumen.
This was overshadowed by HMRC’s 2021 pre-let commitment of 463,000 square feet at Pilgrim’s Quarter.
In Q1 2023, based on recent absorption rates, Newcastle had 1.3 years’ worth of supply left.
Grade A space also made up 53 per cent of Newcastle’s office space stock.
In September 2026, it was reported that Newcastle’s take-up was 40,611 square feet in Q1 2026.
With the ongoing flight to quality, Grade A office space accounted for 78.3 per cent of total take-up.
The overall vacancy rate in Q1 2026 was at 11.23 per cent, while Grade A vacancy was at 3.19 per cent of total stock, reflecting available supply of just 208,000 square feet and a large proportion of this space was under offer at the end of Q1.
However, 2 Pilgrim Place’s 100,000 square feet was in the development pipeline and would complete in early 2027.
Prime rents in Newcastle remained at £32 per square foot; however, new space under construction was quoted at £40 per square foot.
Take-up in Newcastle totalled 211,000 square feet in Q2 2026, over double Q1 and 12 per cent higher than the 10-year quarterly average.
This was driven by Northumbria Police’s acquisition of its 103,000-square-foot headquarters at Cobalt Office Park.
Another notable deal was engineering firm Arup leasing 20,200 square feet at 1 Citygate, bringing it to full occupancy.
Overall office vacancy in Newcastle city centre fell to 9.6 per cent, and Grade A vacancy was at 0.9 per cent.