DTZ: Manchester office costs to fall by a quarter in 2009
Manchester is projected to show a fall of 26.2% in office occupation costs during 2009, according to research by DTZ.
The city will fall from 48th to 64th in the global league table of 114 cities and will be the 3rd most expensive location in the UK outside London.
The rankings are based on the cost of leasing a workstation plus maintenance, fit-out and tax costs. Manchester saw workstation costs fall from $9,430 to $6,960 a year.
Ken Bishop, director in DTZ's Manchester office, commented: "This is one league in which, in many ways, it is better not to be towards the top. At a time of recession occupancy costs are of concern to every occupier. For the future health and strength of the city it is good news that Manchester has become more competitive."
More than three quarters of the locations surveyed expected occupancy costs to fall. Only 3% were optimistic about an upturn in costs, while the remaining 19% expected costs to remain stable.
The survey showed that Tokyo has overtaken London as the most expensive office location. London (West End), which had been the most expensive office market on this basis since 2001 when DTZ first compiled these rankings, fell to fifth.
