Northern M25 lags

In a steadily improving office market in the three areas of the M25, there was a rise in the vacancy rate in the northern section in the first quarter of the year. Indeed there was a near 25% increase in the availability in size of 4,645 to 9,290 sq.m. while the smaller spaces had only small increases, reports Colliers International.

The vacancy rate in the area is now a record 20%. Broadly speaking, rents in the northern section are lower than in the Thames Valley with, for example, Milton Keynes and St Albans at around £226 a sq.m. Colliers’ Philip Papenfus said of the M25 market:”It is a positive sign that we are now seeing some resurgence in speculative office development and funding. The technology and media sectors continue to see healthy growth.”