Take-up

For prime mid-box units in Manchester, transactional activity in Q1 2026 totalled 167,000 sq ft across three transactions, up 10% year-on-year and 11% above the pre-pandemic average of 150,000 sq ft. Across the size bands, units between 40,000–60,000 sq ft accounted for 61% of take-up, and 60,000–80,000 sq ft accounted for 39%. There were no transactions between 20,000–40,000 sq ft and between 80,000–100,000 sq ft in Q1 2026.

Occupier Sector Take-up

By occupier sector, the bulk of transactional activity came from wholesalers, accounting for 74%. The remainder comes from online retailers, accounting for 26%.

Supply

The current availability stands at 1.08 million sq ft across 19 units. This has decreased by 5% quarter-on-quarter and is down by 6% year-on-year. The majority of available space is for units between 60,000–80,000 sq ft.

By size band for units between 20,000–40,000 sq ft, available supply totals 175,000 sq ft, followed by units between 40,000–60,000 sq ft at 220,000 sq ft, 60,000–80,000 sq ft at 430,000 sq ft and 80,000–100,000 sq ft at 262,000 sq ft.

Speculative Pipeline

There is 286,000 sq ft currently under construction across eight units. There is 145,000 sq ft between 20,000–40,000 sq ft and 141,000 sq ft between 40,000–60,000 sq ft. There are no units under construction between 60,000–100,000 sq ft.

In Q1 2026, there were 44,000 sq ft of speculative announcements but no speculative completions. However, 113,000 sq ft is expected to be completed in Q2 2026.

Years of Supply

Across Manchester, there is 1.70 years of supply based on the three-year average annual take-up. By size band, there are 0.96 years of supply in the 20,000–40,000 sq ft range, 0.97 years of supply in the 40,000–60,000 sq ft range, 3.75 years in the 60,000–80,000 sq ft range and 2.23 years of supply in the 80,000–100,000 sq ft range.

Quoting Rents

The prime quoting rent for Manchester has stayed stable, standing at £15.00 psf.

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