Birmingham office take-up increases - commercial mortgages

25 April 2008

The take-up of city centre office space in Birmingham has increased, new figures have shown.

Figures from the market forum, which are accumulated from agencies in the city, reveal that the take-up of office space was 171,746 sq ft in the first quarter of 2008 - a rise of 35 per cent on the same time in 2007, Property Week reports.

Such news may encourage those seeking commercial mortgages in the area.

Overall office availability in central Birmingham presently stands at 2.1 million sq ft, with the definition of what constitutes city centre having just been expanded by the Birmingham Office Market Forum and Costar to include fringe areas such as Edgbaston, Digbeth and Aston Science Park.

The findings of the market forum may back up the optimistic comments about the city''s commercial property scene yesterday by Andy Speight, head of property at management consultancy Faithful+Gould.

Mr Speight had labelled Birmingham''s experience of the recent market downturn as "just a blip in an otherwise healthy and blooming city".