Bimethyls

The economic downturn has been hard on the real estate markets worldwide, and the Manchester office space market is no different. Most of the agents operating in the area report that enquiries have all but disappeared.

According to CoStar, which is a prominent agent in the area, most companies are struggling to let out their space. CoStar itself has been able to let out even lesser than 150,000 sq ft of space so far this year, which translates to a staggering 58% drop in demand in comparison with last year.

The problem for the industry is that the falling demand is coupled with exploding supply, as many projects had been started last year when demand was close to all time highs.

The situation is so grim that currently about 3.9 million sq ft of Manchester office space alone is available. Out of this, about 1.1 million sq ft is grade A space. Moreover, almost 430,000 sq ft of space is likely to be added to the market in the next 2 years due to ongoing projects.

Such a grim situation is bound to take its toll on the price. The current price in Manchester is at £30 per sq ft., but no one is optimistic about it holding on to that level. In fact, the landlords in Manchester are desperately trying to reinforce that level by offering free terms to new tenants, others are offering available office space to be used more effectively as desk rental; for more information click rent desk space for availability in all UK regions. But most analysts believe that such small measures will not be able to deal with the problem.