All data compares January 1st 2024 – March 31st 2024 with the same period a year ago
Demand definition: all enquiries to commercial agents about listings for lease, or to invest in via Rightmove
Supply definition: the number of available commercial real estate listings for lease or investment on Rightmove, adjusted to strip out the effect of any growth in our partner base
Colour key: Teal colours represent areas with more growth in demand or available listings than a year ago, while red shaded areas represent less demand or available listings than a year ago
The heat maps compare office leasing demand in Q1 2024 with the same period a year ago.
About our report
We acknowledge that some market participants will look at demand and supply differently, for example as an aggregate of active searches by tenant representatives, measured in square feet. We aim to provide an alternative lens that makes the best use of our unique dataset.
Introduction
We’re the UK’s number one commercial real estate destination and our vision is to give everyone the belief that they can make their move.
Commercial real estate on Rightmove is seen by the largest and most engaged audience in the UK, and we’ve analysed millions of data points from this audience to bring you our very first Commercial Insights Tracker.
These high-level trends help us to see what’s happening in the sectors and sub-sectors of the market.
We hope you find these insights useful to complement your own market data.
We welcome and appreciate feedback from you on this first edition of our report.
Andy Miles, Rightmove’s MD of Commercial Real Estate
Leasing market: data at a glance and key takeaways
Data at a glance
Key takeaways
▲10%
Industrial is the strongest performing sector, with a 10% increase in demand
▼9%
Retail is the weakest performing sector, with a 9% decrease in demand
▲14%
The industrial sector has seen the biggest improvement in available supply, with the level of listings 14% higher than Q1 last year
Quarterly Spotlight – Office Leasing
“Businesses are still grappling with the role of the office post-pandemic, with many businesses torn between balancing quality face time in the office with flexibility for employees.
“There’s been a small drop in overall office space available for lease this quarter compared to the same time last year, whilst demand has also dropped. Our data suggests one notable driver of this drop in demand is offices in business parks. By contrast, serviced offices seem to be holding up more strongly for demand.
“Whilst there appears to be cooler demand compared to last year in areas of London and the South, demand appears to be holding up more strongly in areas of Scotland and the North East.”
Andy Miles, Rightmove’s MD of Commercial Real Estate
Regional office demand
London office demand
Leasing market: sector summaries
Office
The number of businesses looking for office space is 5% lower than after the first quarter of last year. Demand is higher than pre-pandemic 2019, but lower than 2021-2023
The number of available office spaces to lease is 2% lower than at this time last year, and has remained relatively stable since October 2023
Industrial
Demand for industrial space is up by 10% compared to Q1 2023, fuelled by a record January and February
The number of available listings in this sector is now +14% higher than this time last year
Leisure
Demand is 6% lower than the first quarter of last year. Enquiries ticked up from February into March
The number of available listings in this sector is 5% below this time last year
Retail
Demand for retail spaces to lease is down by 9% on Q1 2023, the most of any sector in the leasing market
The number of available listings in this sector is 7% below Q1 2023
Investment market: data at a glance and key takeaways
Data at a glance
Key takeaways
▲8%
Industrial and leisure are the strongest performing sectors, with an 8% increase in demand
▼4%
Office is the weakest performing sector, with a 4% decrease in demand
“The industrial and leisure sectors are seeing more demand from those looking to invest in commercial real estate compared to last year. However, despite the rise in demand, the number of industrial units to invest in has still outpaced the growth in number of people enquiring.
“Our data suggests light industrial units and distribution warehouses are two of the biggest contributors to more supply in the industrial sector overall this quarter.”
Andy Miles, Rightmove’s MD of Commercial Real Estate
Investment market: sector summaries
Office
Demand is down by 4% compared with Q1 2023, the most out of any sector, and well below the record of this time in Demand has gradually declined since the start of the year
The number of available office listings for investment is 3% higher than Q1 last year
Industrial
Demand for industrial space is up by 8% compared to Q1 2023, the joint highest of the four key sectors
The number of available listings in this sector is now 12% higher than Q1 last year
Leisure
Demand is up by 8% in the leisure investment sector compared with Q1 2023, the joint-highest in the investment market alongside industrial
The number of available listings is now 5% higher than at this time last year, and has remained relatively steady throughout 2024
Retail
Demand in the retail investment sector is down by 3% compared to the beginning of last year, the weakest demand stats of the four sectors
The number of available listings in this sector is up by 4% compared to Q1 2023
