Savills forecasts Big 6 office take-up to reach 3.8 million sq ft in 2025

Office take-up across the UK’s six largest regional cities is on course to reach 3.84 million sq ft by the end of 2025, according to new data from Savills.

Figures for Q1 to Q3 show 2.68 million sq ft of office space transacted across Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester, matching the five-year average for the period. Savills predicts that Q4 will contribute more than 1 million sq ft, in line with long-term trends.

While overall Q3 take-up of 948,771 sq ft was 6% below the five-year average, regional variation was significant. Bristol saw the strongest performance, with 227,767 sq ft transacted—up 164% year-on-year and 168% above its five-year average. This was driven by large occupier deals including Hargreaves Lansdown’s 90,362 sq ft lease at the Welcome Building, and a record headline rent of £50 per sq ft paid by Birketts for 8,500 sq ft at EQ.

Leeds also recorded a year-on-year increase in Q3 take-up, reaching 156,675 sq ft, slightly above the same period in 2024. Birmingham’s Q3 figure was 10% above its five-year average.

In terms of deal volume, Bristol and Birmingham saw a 70% and 55% increase respectively in the number of transactions compared with Q3 2024. Manchester posted the largest single deal of the year to date, with Autotrader’s 130,000 sq ft lease at 3 Circle Square.

Professional services and TMT (technology, media and telecoms) each accounted for 19% of total take-up across the Big 6.

Commenting on the data, James Evans, national head of office agency at Savills, said that the figures reflected “remarkable resilience” in regional office markets despite difficult trading conditions. He noted that delays in decision-making continue to impact the pace of transactions and warned that a lack of new development could constrain future activity, though this may present opportunities for repositioned assets and rental growth in 2026.