Unsurprisingly, take-up activity remained subdued in Q3 2020 reaching 395,053 sq ft, an improvement on the previous quarter where take-up reached 260,628 sq ft. This brings annual take-up to end September to 1.1m sq ft, down 42% on the same period last year (1.9m sq ft) and 50% below the 5-term average for take-up in Q1 to Q3.
Other key findings include:
- Following a lack of larger deals over H1 2020, Surrey County Council’s 110,000 sq ft acquisition at Cockshot Hill, Reigate provided a significant boost to figures in the largest deal of the year to date. Another notable deal was to Phillips signing 40,000 sq ft at Ascent One Farnborough Aerospace Centre, Farnborough on a 10 year lease.
- As expected investment volumes remain down on long term average levels, Q3 2020 volumes reached £325m, reflecting an improvement on Q2 (£108m) which was the lowest quarter on record. In addition, investment volumes totalled £1.5bn to end September which is 11% below the same period last year at £1.7bn.
- Most notably in Q3, 68% of activity was out of town however, this was driven by the availability of opportunities and associated lot size rather than a long term trend. The largest transaction to complete this quarter was Straits Capital purchase of Bourne BP Business Park, Weybridge for £80m.
Click to read South East Offices Review Q3 2020
