Colliers International’s latest Cities of Influence report ranked Leeds as the 13th out of 50 cities across Europe in terms of its attractiveness to occupiers. The key socio-economic factors in which Leeds excelled were the strong talent pool offered by its top tier universities, workforce catchment area, employer costs, and future employment capacity.
The analysis by Colliers showed current prime central business district (CBD) headline rents in Leeds at £30 per sq ft per year with an average CBD headline rent of £21 per sq ft per year and prime CBD yield currently 5.5%.
“Leeds features strongly in the latest Cities of Influence rankings in 13th place, despite competition from 50 European cities,” said Roddy Morrison, director of Colliers International’s National Offices. “The sizeable existing economy, workforce catchment and strong orientation towards financial and business services are key factors in the success of the city. We expect the city to continue on its growth path as part of the Northern Powerhouse collective, driving higher level of real estate investment into the area.”
The participating cities are reviews based on their occupier attractiveness, availability of talent, quality of life factors, economic output and productivity. London was ranked as the most attractive city in Europe for a second year running, with Paris, Madrid, Moscow and Birmingham making up the rest of the top five.
“Office occupier strength is the engine room for a city economy and as a driver of all other forms of real estate demand: be it retail (and thus logistics), hotels, leisure and residential,” explained Peter Leyburn, EMEA director of client services at Colliers International.
“Occupational strength will also help drive rental growth and longer-term this is the most important driver of capital value – especially in an environment where yields do not look capable of compressing any further in the vast majority of markets. So this analysis should be a good marker for where investment capital should go,” he added.
