Adair Paxton: Is Leeds the next commercial address your business should be considering?
Is Leeds the next commercial address your business should be considering?
For many occupiers, investors and developers, the answer is increasingly yes.
If you are an investor or developer assessing where the strongest commercial property opportunities sit in the north of England, or a business considering where to put your next base, Leeds deserves to be the first name on that list, not an afterthought.
This is not a city asking for your attention. It is a city that has already earned it. The fundamentals are established, the regeneration is visible on the ground, and the governance structure that has historically slowed major urban delivery has been fundamentally changed. Leeds is at that point in the cycle where the strongest opportunities are found: established, growing and still offering genuine value before the full story is priced in.
A decade of delivery. Not a decade of promises.
Urban regeneration is easy to announce and hard to deliver. Most projects involve an ambitious masterplan, some compelling imagery and a timeline that quietly stretches. Leeds South Bank is different, and the difference is not in the plans. It is in what has actually been built.
Over the last decade, Monk Bridge delivered 665 apartments across five buildings built above a restored Victorian viaduct and completed in 2023. Tower Works, a landmark waterside scheme next to the Leeds Canal, delivered on time the same year. The Climate Innovation District already has residents living in its first completed phase. The CEG Temple development in Holbeck has delivered nearly 200,000 sq ft of occupied office space, transforming a former industrial area into a thriving commercial quarter.
These are not schemes approaching completion. They are places where people live and work today. The South Bank covers an area equivalent to 250 football pitches, backed by £500 million of public investment and billions in private capital, making it one of the largest urban regeneration projects ever undertaken in the UK.
And the next phase is not waiting. Aire Park, the mixed-use neighbourhood being delivered by Vastint on the former Tetley’s brewery site at the heart of the South Bank, is already operational and already attracting the kind of occupiers that demonstrate genuine market confidence. Jacobs, the global engineering and technology firm, has confirmed its move to South Brook Street at Aire Park. Northern Rail has chosen Aire Park for its new state-of-the-art training hub and office. Ridge and Partners has selected it as its Yorkshire headquarters. The office buildings have achieved WELL Platinum certification, one of the highest standards for workspace quality in the world, and Aire Park won Best Office Deal at the Yorkshire Commercial Real Estate Awards 2026.
That energy is visible right across Leeds. The Roundhouse on Wellington Road, a Grade II* listed Victorian railway building vacant since 2022, recently received planning approval for Ollo Padel to transform it into a sport, fitness and leisure destination. Paxton acted in the letting and continues to manage the wider business park. It is a live example of the kind of opportunity this market is producing right now.
This is what a regeneration story looks like when it is genuinely working.
The market fundamentals and what is driving them
Leeds is the largest legal and financial centre in England outside London, with the most diverse economy of any major UK employment centre and the fastest rate of private sector jobs growth of any UK city. The Leeds Economic Vision 2025 to 2035 targets £20 billion of economic growth and 100,000 new jobs over the next decade, backed by a £2.1 billion regional transport investment programme.
The Mayoral Development Zone announced at UKREiiF in May 2026 brings together Leeds City Council, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Homes England and central government under a single coordinated delivery framework. West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin described it as bringing together “the powers, partners and investment needed to deliver a new chapter for Leeds.” In practical terms, the fragmentation of planning, funding, land assembly and infrastructure delivery that characterises most complex urban regeneration has been removed. The public sector is not just supportive of private development in Leeds right now. It is actively organised around enabling it.
That governance shift is reflected in the market. Prime office rents have risen 17.9% year on year to £46 per sq ft, with further growth forecast. Leeds has the lowest level of prime office supply among the UK’s Big Six regional cities, meaning the best space is increasingly being secured before it reaches the open market. Yet Leeds remains the most affordable major commercial market in the UK for flexible workspace, with median all-inclusive desk rates of £322 per month compared to approximately £400 in Manchester. That gap does not reflect a quality difference. It reflects a market that is still in the process of being fully valued. That process is accelerating.
What the market is telling us
Adair Paxton has operated in this market across generations. We have seen it in every condition and we understand what the current moment represents.
Will Tomlin from our commercial team puts it directly.
“We have watched Leeds change from the inside for many years, and the pace of that change in the last decade has been unlike anything we have seen before. What it has produced is a different kind of conversation with occupiers. Businesses coming to us today are not just asking about cost. They are asking about quality, environment, connectivity and talent attraction. Leeds is answering all of those questions convincingly now, and that is drawing serious interest from occupiers and investors who would not previously have had this city at the top of their list.”
That shift in the nature of enquiries is one of the clearest signals a market can send. When businesses stop asking whether a city is affordable and start asking whether it is the right environment for their people and their future, the direction of travel is clear.
Where to go from here
For investors, Leeds offers what most markets make you choose between: proven fundamentals and genuine upside. For developers, the single front door governance structure, constrained speculative pipeline and genuine occupier demand create conditions that are rare in any UK market right now. For commercial landlords with lease events approaching, the gap between a well-advised and under-advised position at a rent review or renewal has never been more significant.
We know which locations are gaining momentum ahead of the wider market. We know which assets represent genuine long-term value. We know the conversations that are happening before they reach the open market. And we will give you a straight view of what we see rather than the view that is easiest to give.
The city is ready. The timing is now.
Speak to Adair Paxton’s commercial team
adairpaxton.co.uk/commercial-landlord-tenant-services
You can see all of the commercial property listed by Adair Paxton on NovaLoca here.
