A REPORT by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) claims Grade A office accommodation in Liverpool is offering the joint highest yields outside London.
CBRE’s H1 Office Market Report says Liverpool’s highest yield of 7% is matched only by Southampton.
This is 100 basis points higher than other cities, including Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Manchester has the lowest yield of the regional cities, at 5.75%. According to CBRE, there is currently more than 1.7m sq ft of office space available across Liverpool, including 282,000 sq ft in new stock.
Only Bristol and Liverpool saw an increase in new space during the first half of the year, with speculative schemes reaching completion in both cities. In Liverpool, this includes the third phase of St Paul’s Square.
Other cities saw new space decline, with second-hand space edging up or, at best, relatively unchanged.
The report says take-up totals in Liverpool reached just 37,330 sq ft in the first six months of the year, compared to just over 167,712 sq ft transacted during the same period in 2010.
Most deals came from small private sector occupiers who are seeking value and making the most of current market conditions.
Most regions had a quiet start to the year, although activity picked up during the second quarter.
The best performing region was Aberdeen, already well ahead of its 2010 total. In virtually all other cities, take-up is just keeping pace with leasing volumes experienced in 2010.
A notable trend in Liverpool has been the emergence of requirements from the banking sector and professional services firms – Bank of New York and Santander are currently looking for space in Liverpool, and law firm Weightmans is close to signing up for new accommodation.
Mark Worthington, director of office agency at CBRE North West, said: “Prospects for Liverpool during the second half of 2011 are much improved, with a number of active requirements which we anticipate completing before the end of the year.
“In particular, we see call centres becoming a source of future demand.”
