Occupiers of office space in Manchester city centre are currently scrambling to sort out leases with tenants to secure their offices, as a lack of city centre locations means that occupiers face rising rent costs.

As Manchester’s offices begin to fill to capacity, experts believe that rental costs in the city’s older and better office blocks are set to surge by over one third. It is believed that the average cost of office space in Manchester has already risen by over 35%, with the cost rising from around £17 per square foot to over £24 in the last 18 months.

Many businesses have recently signed new leases across multiple sites in Manchester. The latest deals have seen global energy firm Gazprom sign a deal for 17,377 sq. ft. of space in City Road, and Hitachi Consulting has signed a lease for 6,000 sq. ft. at Bruntwood’s Manchester One on Portland Street.

Rising rent costs may be enough to tempt developers to launch refurbishment schemes across the city, with Commercial Estates Group already announcing plans to redevelop its 196 Deansgate office block, which houses 45,000 sq. ft. of space in the city centre.

The planning consent for this refurbishment plan has been granted and this office block will have its first and second floor space upgraded to the same Grade A specifications as the rest of the building.

As well as this, Bruntwood also announced refurbishment plans, and intends to develop its Portland Street office by transforming a vacant penthouse suite into further office space.