^{Source: Savills Research}

■ The key deal during the third quarter was the 17,000 sq ft letting of Albert House to Bouygues at £14 per sq ft.

■ As at end Q3 2016, the most active business sector has been the insurance and finance sector, which has seen take up reach 125,441 sq ft, representing 23% of the total.

■ Larger deals have accounted for a high proportion of take-up so far during 2016. Lot sizes over 50,000 sq ft accounted for 47% of take-up, above the long term average of 30%, driven by a number of large deals during the first half.

■ The key requirement in the market is from the Government Property Unit (GPU) for 520,000 sq ft of space and are looking at a number of sites. A number of deals are expected to complete during the end of 2016 and start of 2017.

■ Total availability increased 7% to 1.3m sq ft in Birmingham city centre during the third quarter (Graph 2), driven by the practical completions of high quality refurbished schemes, 55 Colmore Row (112,000 sq ft) and Cornerblock (110,000 sq ft, pictured below).

^{Source: Savills Research}

■ Despite the recent addition of Grade A space on the market, there is less than three years of Grade A supply remaining on the market.

■ Committed new office developments are limited to Three Snowhill and Paradise Circus, which will deliver around 660,000 sq ft of available Grade A space between 2018 and 2020.

■ Savills expect top rents to remain at £32.50 per sq ft throughout 2016 and 2017 (Graph 3), whilst average rents are expected to pick up with high quality refurbished stock coming through.

^{Source: Savills Research}

■ During the third quarter of 2016, office based investment fell to £17m as investors counted stock post referendum. Given the large volume of stock traded in the first half of the year by the end of Q3 2016, office investment reached £373m, 20% above the 10-year average for this stage (Graph 4).

■ UK institutions remain the dominant investor type during 2016, though we expect overseas investment to become the key contributor going forward, as investors take advantage of weak sterling.

^{Source: Savills Research, Property Data}

^{Source: Savills Research}

^{▲ 'Cornerblock' will provide 110,000 sq ft of Grade A refurbished space}