Take-up

For prime mid-box units in Manchester, transactional activity in 2026 YTD totalled 707,000 sq ft across 13 transactions, up 44% year-on-year. Across the size bands, units between 20,000–40,000 sq ft accounted for 15% of take-up, 40,000–60,000 sq ft accounted for 41%, 60,000–80,000 sq ft accounted for 20%, and 80,000–100,000 sq ft accounted for 24% of take-up.

Occupier Sector Take-up

By occupier sector, wholesale firms account for 50% of 2026 YTD transactional activity, followed by 36% from third-party logistics companies, 7% from online retail and the remaining 7% taken by ‘other’ occupiers.

Supply

The current availability stands at 868,000 sq ft across 17 units. This has increased by 16% quarter-on-quarter but is down by 22% 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 189,000 sq ft, followed by units between 40,000–60,000 sq ft at 181,000 sq ft, 60,000–80,000 sq ft at 406,000 sq ft and 80,000–100,000 sq ft at 91,000 sq ft.

Speculative Pipeline

There is 339,000 sq ft currently under construction across eight units. There is 87,000 sq ft between 20,000–40,000 sq ft, 184,000 sq ft between 40,000–60,000 sq ft and 67,000 sq ft between 60,000–80,000 sq ft. There are no units under construction between 80,000–100,000 sq ft.

In 2026 YTD, there were 78,000 sq ft of speculative announcements and 122,000 sq ft of speculative completions. With 260,000 sq ft expected to complete in Q4 2026.

Years of Supply

Across Manchester, there is 1.36 years of supply based on the three-year average annual take-up. By size band, there are 1.04 years of supply in the 20,000–40,000 sq ft range, 0.80 years of supply in the 40,000–60,000 sq ft range, 3.55 years in the 60,000–80,000 sq ft range and 0.78 years of supply in the 80,000–100,000 sq ft range.

Quoting Rents

The prime quoting rent for Manchester has decreased by 3% to now stand at £14.50 psf.

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