Education sector delivers strongest quarter for Birmingham office market since 2017 - report

The education sector led the way in a surge of lettings that marked the strongest quarter that the Birmingham office market has seen since 2017.

According to KWB’s Q3 2024 Birmingham Office Market Review, 348,690 sq ft was let over 23 deals - 77 per cent of which were deals involving the education sector.

The most significant letting was 189,053 sq ft at 10 Woodcock Street, located within Birmingham’s flourishing ‘Knowledge Quarter’, in a deal with Aston University that will see the award-winning building become home to Aston University’s Business School and Law School.

Malcolm Jones, director of office agency at KWB, said: “While the office market has seen great activity in the professional services and private sectors over the last five years, it seems that the education sector, including recruitment and training, will be leading for the foreseeable future.”

The education sector represented 267,672 sq ft of lettings in Q3, surpassing the sector’s entire occupancy across 2023 in this quarter alone.

This thriving sector has taken 315,640 sq ft of space thus far in 2024, a 44 per cent share of the 717,484 sq ft total.

This is significantly higher than its previous highest sector share of 25 per cent in 2023.  

Malcolm continued: “We have seen a sizeable leap forward in Q3, compared to the amount of space let at the beginning of the year, with 23 deals completed in this quarter alone.

“In addition to those in the education sector, significant deals included One Snowhill, 1 Brindleyplace and Cornerblock; all of which were pivotal in this extensive take-up.

“2024 is on track to become a year of great market significance for Birmingham, with the upward trends seen in Q1, Q2 and Q3 a clear indicator of how the year will transpire.”

Impressively, Birmingham city centre Q1-Q3 take-up is 36 per cent above the five year average. Additionally, the take-up of 717,484 sq ft in the first nine months of 2024 is the highest since 2015, only 40,525 sq ft short of this benchmark year.

Malcolm concluded: “In addition to the flourishing education sector, trends show that demand remains strong for premium office space of all sizes, with a focus on quality rather than quantity.

“Furthermore, this year has seen a rise in the lettings within the city centre fringe areas, which will certainly be something to watch moving forward.”

Read the full Birmingham Office Market Review here.