Office occupational ‘take up’ in St Helier reached a record high in 2018 with around 250,000 sq. ft of stock being let, according to recent research undertaken by D2 Real Estate.
As a percentage of total stock, this is in excess of the occupational take up being achieved in many UK regional cities.
Given this increased “take up”, the total office vacancy rate has fallen significantly and is now below the historic average. The conversion of vacant obsolete office stock to alternative uses has also played a significant part in the falling vacancy rate. In the prime market there is now very little space left to let, and even in the buildings that are under construction, the majority of the space is pre-let, so the short term supply chain is thin.
D2 Real Estate’s Managing Director, Phil Dawes, commented: “the falling vacancy rate through increased take up and conversion of obsolete stock to alternative uses is extremely positive. It demonstrates that landlords are being proactive rather than just sitting on obsolete stock with little prospect of getting it let. It will ultimately provide much needed residential accommodation. Some credit should also go to the relaxation of the planning policy which in this case, has helped”
At the same time the quality of the remaining stock is increasing. Until recently around 5% of the stock comprised BREEAM rated buildings, BREEAM being the industry standard for sustainable buildings. This has now risen to 20% of total stock, following developments such as IFC and Gaspé House.”
The past 12 months proved to be a record high for the investment market too as Phil explains: “It was a record year with £185m worth of stock being transacted. The liquidity in the investment market has also improved, with a raft of new buyers, from HNW’s to South East Asian investors and new syndicates.”
The full report is available to read here: www.d2re.co.uk/research
