South East: Berks and north Hants top locations for office demand

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TBM Team

Berkshire and north Hampshire remains the South East’s most in-demand market in which to rent an office, according to CoStar’s recently launched analytics and benchmarking tool.

Strong demand, both from native and migrating firms, meant net absorption in the market was almost 300,000 sq ft over the past year. The biggest move saw SSE increase its occupational footprint when it finally relocated to its new 186,000 sq ft Reading headquarters in Q2 2017.

Elsewhere, Maersk (57,000 sq ft) and the Rank Group (38,000 sq ft) both relocated to Maidenhead in Q1 2017, vacating space in Central London in the process, while Becton Dickinson (61,000 sq ft) completed its move to Winnersh in Q3 2017 after closing an office in Oxford.

The arrival of Crossrail in 2019 is undoubtedly supporting demand within Berkshire & North Hampshire, with sub-markets on or close to the Crossrail route posting the strongest demand.

Central Reading, Maidenhead, and Slough - all of which will soon be served by Crossrail - have all performed well over the past 12 months. And looking forward, with most recent construction within the market positioned close to the route, these locations are well placed to capitalise on further Crossrail-induced demand in the coming years.

Source: CoStar

TBM Team