Manchester Office Take-up Sees Steady Performance in Q2 Whilst UK Reaches Highest Level in Three Years

Take-up of office space across the UK has reached 20.3m sq ft in Q2 2025, marking the highest rolling 12-month level since Q3 2022, which saw take-up of 20.6m sq ft, according to new research from CBRE.

In Manchester, take-up remained steady in Q2 with deals totalling 261,500 sq ft across  49 deals. Eight of these deals were greater than 10,000 sq ft.   Key deals in Manchester included Softcat, who took 35,400 sq ft at Manchester Goods Yard, Studio Way and Havas, who took 31,000 sq ft at No 3 Circle Square.

The Q2 figure brought H1 take-up in Manchester to 581,100 sq ft, 14% higher than H1 2024 and the highest half-yearly figure since 2019, representing strong activity levels across the city centre driven by demand from a diverse range of sectors. The Tech, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sector accounted for the largest share of take-up at 31% in the 12 months to end-Q2.  The Banking and Finance sector was also active, accounting for 24% of total take-up in that period.

Liverpool transacted 51,600 sq ft across 15 leasing deals in Q2, a 116% increase on the same period last year. This also represented an uplift on Q1 2025, which saw occupiers take 36,300 sq ft.  Despite the quarter-on-quarter increase in the Liverpool market, take-up was 17% below the five-year average. The H1 take-up in Liverpool totalled 87,900 sq ft, 27% below the same period in 2024.

The Professional sector was the most active in the 12 months to Q2 in Liverpool, accounting for 26% of take-up, closely followed by Insurance at 25%.  The largest deal of the quarter in Liverpool saw Liverpool John Moores University take 25,400 sq ft at City Square, 40 Tithebarn Street.

The 12-month rolling take-up across the UK was split between Central London (11.8m sq ft), the South East (2.4m sq ft) and the UK regions (6.5m sq ft), representing an increase of 3% when compared to the same period last year, and 2% above the 10-year average.

Availability across the regional markets decreased by 3% in the second quarter to stand at 20.7m sq ft at the end of Q2, broadly in-line with the five-year average. However, the supply of new stock remained constrained, representing less than a quarter of available space (23%).

Availability in Manchester decreased marginally (-2%), standing at 4.5m sq ft at the end of Q2, comprising mostly Grade B and C space.  The availability of the new/new early marketed space remained low, accounting for just 18% of available supply at the end of the quarter.

In Liverpool, availability increased by 8% during the second quarter to stand at 904,600 sq ft.  Secondhand space accounted for the majority of supply at 92%, while newly completed space accounted for the remainder.  Grade A availability rate stood at 2.9%.

A total of 1.6m sq ft of development space completed across the regional markets* in H1 2025, 41% of which was already let by the end of Q2. There is 0.8m sq ft of space under construction that is due to complete by the end of the year.

According to CBRE’s data, there is 3.1m sq ft of space under construction across the regional markets with the earliest possible completion dates up to 2028. Of this space, 17% is already pre-let or under offer.

“Our data shows us that in recent quarters, take-up has started to climb back above the 10-year average, which aligns to our view that occupiers are starting to take larger office footprints again,” said Simon Brown, Head of UK Office Research at CBRE. “The UK office market is starting to show clear signs of normalisation after a period of relatively low demand. Driven by an increase in return-to-work mandates, we expect companies across the country to continue to acquire space to meet the demands of their growing workforces.”