Serviced office space take-up in Dublin rises

MORE than 13pc of office space take-up in Dublin during the first nine months of the year was by serviced workspace suppliers. The 13.5pc figure just exceeded the 13pc figure in London in the same period, according to research from Savills.

The property services group said that although there was only one serviced office transaction in the third quarter of this year – IWG’s letting of 1,523 sq m in Blanchardstown – almost 27,000 sq m of serviced offices have been let in Dublin over the first nine months of the year, accounting for 13.5pc of total take-up.

IWG is an international serviced office firm that already has a significant amount of informal co-working accommodation in Dublin with its Spaces brand. Other flex-space operators active in Dublin include WeWork.

Savills said that some Dublin office occupiers, as in the United Kingdom, are using flexible workspace to mitigate Brexit uncertainty.

It added that new lease accounting standards under IFRS 16 are also pushing some occupiers in Ireland and elsewhere towards the serviced office model.

The property group said that US technology firms in particular require the type of flexibility that serviced office space offers.

“Technology changes quickly, is highly globalised and often involves the formation and dissolution of task-orientated project teams – all factors that feed into a demand for flexible business space,” said Savills.