Glasgow is poised for a record headline office rent as occupiers compete for the dwindling supply of high-quality space in the city centre, according to new research.
Property agent Knight Frank reckons the city will see £45 per sq ft for the first time by the end of 2026, up by more than 8% from its current rate of £41.50 where it has held steady for the past year.
Deal activity in the first half of the year pushed Glasgow’s top level ‘Grade A’ vacancy rate down by more than a third (37.5%), from 6.4% to 4.0%, as occupiers favoured best-in-class space over the abundance of available Grade B stock.
Office take-up reached nearly 292,000 sq ft between January and June – the highest first-half total since 2018. At the same time, stock was withdrawn from the office market through conversion to alternative uses.
Occupiers’ growing preference for fully-fitted, immediately occupiable space continued, representing around 50% of the transactions concluded in 2026 so far. That was particularly true for smaller requirements, with the average deal size falling to 2,252 sq ft between April and June – down 36% on the previous three months.
Take-up accelerated in the second quarter, rising from 129,778 sq ft in the previous three months to 161,703 sq ft.
The Home Office’s 80,639 sq ft acquisition of 200 Broomielaw provided a boost to the figures, representing around half of the total take-up in the second quarter. The largest transaction in the first three months of 2026 was Centrica securing 23,914 sq ft of Grade A space at 2 Atlantic Square at 31 York Street.
Simon Capaldi, office agency partner at Knight Frank Glasgow, said: “All things being equal, pressure on supply only looks set to intensify.”
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