Between 2022 and 2024, annual average educational take-up was 69,906 sq ft, representing a 38% increase on the five-year average, making it one of the fastest growing sectors in the city. The trend has continued into 2025 with the Global Banking School looking to expand its Devonshire Street campus by 55,000 sq ft and Elizabeth School acquiring a further 24,780 sq ft in Arthur House in Q1 2025.
Manchester’s office market has seen a substantial rise in take-up from occupiers in the education space over the past three years.
What’s driving the demand?
Demand has come from both local and national organisations. Manchester-based University Academy 92, which occupied 50,000 sq ft at Valo in Old Trafford, expanded by 11,000 sq ft in 2022 before also acquiring an additional 36,751 sq ft in the city centre at Baskerville House at Bruntwood’s Riverside. The London College of Accountancy took 36,468 sq ft at Bruntwood SciTech’s Base Building and is now seeking a further 20,000 sq ft within the city centre. So why is Manchester so attractive to education providers?
The most significant factor is Manchester’s reputation for culture, nightlife, cost of living, connectivity and academic excellence, which has led to a booming student population. It has the highest level of student retention outside of London, as the city benefits from almost half of its talented graduates staying and contributing to the economy. For landlords, this represents an opportunity to secure a different profile of tenant and tap into the growth of the educational sector, with benefits including:
- Community building – educational establishments can reinvigorate mixed-use developments, providing a student market for food & beverage providers and residential development to the schemes and wider area.
- Size – as education providers often need space for students, their requirements are usually larger than standard office lettings. The average deal for education in Manchester between 2015 and 2024 was 8,169 sq ft, which is 49% larger than the average across all sectors.
- Rents – educational tenants typically take well-connected, Grade A office space paying market rents.
- Covenant – generally the larger educational occupiers are well backed, benefit from guaranteed contracts and provide a strong covenant.
Future opportunities
There are multiple examples of educational occupiers moving into the city and then expanding a couple of years later, either by taking more space in their existing building or seeking a new home. Educational occupiers don’t seem to be constricted to certain locations either – Arden University acquired 43,000 sq ft of grade A space in Spinningfields in the largest transaction of 2023 and has since gone on to expand into an extra 12,650 sq ft. Planet Education already had a presence in the city and has recently acquired an additional 20,000 sq ft in Bridgewater House.
However, there are unique considerations for landlords when it comes to educational occupiers. For example, educational tenants are rarely willing to pay top rents for the best space in the city, as they focus more on the practicalities of the space. This is positive for take up of grade B space of scale. The buildings need to be accommodate high footfall of students and staff and this needs to be managed (in particular in multi-let buildings), offer high occupancy density and be able to manage students through communal areas. In many instances, the pros outweigh the cons of educational users within office buildings, but careful consideration is needed to ensure such occupiers are right for a scheme.
Further information
Contact Daniel Barnes
Manchester full year office take up jumps 29% with grade A market set to dominate in 2025, says Savills
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