Property Times. Brussels Office. Q4 2010

While the outlook for the Brussels office market has been gloomier every quarter in 2010, some major last minute deals have brought some Christmas cheer to the end of the year. The total annual take-up figure reaches an unexpected 517,235 sq m as more than 112,000 sq m in transactions have been recorded during the final few weeks of 2010.



However, some of the market’s fundamentals remain worrying, namely a record high availability (12.28% and 1.6m sq m), especially for recent buildings in the Central districts and a considerable pressure on effective rents with gratuities up to 2.5 months per year of lease.

On a brighter note, the speculative pipeline for 2011 has completely dried out, which should allow for availability to start decreasing next year. On top of this, private sector activity seems to be slowly picking up. Oxford Economics forecasts an average annual growth of office employment reaching 1.4% between 2011 and 2015 in Brussels.


Rents should therefore stabilize in 2011 and improve towards the end of the year on the back of stronger economical growth and weaker pipeline.

Therefore there is a mixed feeling regarding the market’s medium term outlook. The existing situation is one of the most preoccupying ever known on the market but positive factors are emerging to help mitigate the situation in 2011.