Leeds offices steady away, while UK climbs

CBRE’s Q2, 2025 research into office take-up shows a steady, if unexciting, performance from Yorkshire’s largest city, while deals across London and the South East pushed the country’s figures to the highest level in three years.

Across the UK, take-up of office space reached 20.3m sq ft in Q2, 2025. This was the highest since Q3, 2022, which reached 20.6m sq ft.

Leeds’ market totalled 84,300 sq ft during this period, with the largest deal being 17,100 sq ft at No1 Whitehall Riverside.

At the halfway point of the year, Leeds office take-up has totalled 325,000 sq ft – broadly in line with the long-term average, but 7% lower than this time last year.

In terms of sectors, the consumer services and leisure sector is thriving in Leeds, being the most active over the last 12 months and accounting for 41% of total take-up, followed by business services, coming in at 21%.

The trend towards grade A, sustainable workspace remains the key driver for occupiers, while the issue of low supply of new stock continues to rear its head. This is true across all regional markets, with new stock accounting for less that a quarter of available space (23%).

In Leeds itself, there is 1.5m sq ft (-1%) of new offices available for occupiers compared to last quarter, while secondhand space accounted for 83%.

The newly completed and early marketed supply accounts for 16% and 1% respectively.

The lack of new space is a problem seen across the regional markets: in H1, 2025, a total of 1.6m sq ft completed, and 41% of that was already let by the end of Q2.

According to CBRE, there is 0.8m sq ft of space under construction due to complete by the end of the year, and 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.”

Rob Madden, Head of UK Investor Leasing at CBRE added: “We know that the quality of the building itself is a top priority for occupiers, but so is location.

“Choosing the right UK market to access the best talent will be determined by the sector you operate in, but beyond that, accessibility and surrounding amenities are incredibly important.

“However, the thinning supply of new stock and the physical cost of moving are likely to result in more regears.

“If the office is well located and can be refurbed to meet the future needs of the occupier, staying put is a compelling option.”