Investors show hunger for city centre buildings

Investors have been particularly active in Leeds where the biggest deal of the year so far is No.1 Whitehall Riverside to NFU Mutual for 51.3m. Last week BT's headquarters on Sovereign Street were sold to Gatehouse for 40m. Benson House was recently sold to Lancashire County Pension Fund for 20m.

Smaller sales include Cloth Hall Street to Sanderling Estates for 4.8m and 31-32 Park Row to Aegon for 3.2m.

A number of other buildings are currently under offer.

Simon Lister, head of investment at Savills in Leeds, said: "Generally things improved in the first half of the year. There has been a real focus from UK institutions with money to spend on good quality city centre investments.

"Strong prices were paid for the likes of Benson House which encouraged a few marginal sellers to put their buildings on the market at a favourable price."

Mathew Atkinson, associate director at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "It'll be interesting to see what happens now as institutions are more cautious since public sector cuts were announced."

James Lawlor, senior surveyor at DTZ, added: "Everyone is a little apprehensive about what will happen during the rest of the year and whether UK institutions have now spent up."