Edinburgh office market roundup
Take-up down, but top-quality space dominates
Take-up in Edinburgh city centre at the end of Q4 2025 totalled 115,973 sq ft, which was down on Q4 2024 but 90% higher than the previous quarter and the strongest of the year. This brought the end-of-year total to 374,438 sq ft, achieved through 101 transactions.
Grade A and Prime take-up totalled 240,955 sq ft, accounting for 64% of the total, 15% higher than the five-year average proportion of take-up. There were 28 Grade A and Prime transactions in 2025, 12% higher than the number in 2024 and 30% higher than the five-year average number.
Uptick in availability, but Prime is still constrained
Availability at the end of Q4 2025 totals 1.2 million sq ft, an increase of 11% compared to the previous quarter. This means that the overall vacancy rate has increased by 140 basis points to 13.6%. Secondary stock totals 488,301 sq ft and accounted for 39% of the total.
Grade A and Prime availability now stand at 665,249 sq ft and 93,968 sq ft, respectively. Grade A has increased by 15%, meanwhile Prime has decreased slightly by 5%. This means the Grade A vacancy rate has increased to 7.3%, meanwhile the Prime vacancy rate stands 1.0%, the lowest of all the UK regions.
Insurance and Financial occupiers continue to lead take-up
The ‘Insurance & financial’ sector was the most active during 2025, leasing a total of 82,671 sq ft, accounting for 22% of the overall take-up. There were eight transactions, with the largest letting of the sector and the year acquired by Royal London at 1 Thistle Street for a total of 70,000 sq ft. This was subsequently the largest transaction for the sector since 2022.
Another active sector during 2025 was the ‘Professional' sector, leasing 77,740 sq ft across 14 transactions and therefore accounting for 21% of the total. The largest letting within the sector saw Addleshaw Goddard acquire 29,000 sq ft at the recently refurbished 24–25 St Andrews Square — this was also the largest deal for the sector since 2021.
Although take-up fell sharply in 2025, this was largely expected due to cyclical market factors, including a lower volume of lease events that year. Quality supply remains acutely constrained, and projections indicate that rental growth in 2026 will remain robust
Mike Irvine, Director, Office Agency
Headline rent
There was no new increase in the Prime headline rent during Q4 2025, and it remains at £48 per sq ft, which was achieved in Q1 2025 at 23 Charlotte Square by Ember Core Limited.
This means that the Prime rent has grown by 30% over the last five years, and further rental growth is expected in Edinburgh due to an extremely constrained Prime supply and lack of new development.
Savills latest rental projections forecast growth to reach at least £60 per sq ft by the end of 2030, if not before, representing a further increase of 25% on current rental levels.
Find out more about Edinburgh's property market here.
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