GLASGOW'S office agents are optimistic about the prospects for a

hardening in rentals in the city this year. A survey of its members by

the re-established Glasgow Office Agents Society found 36% predicting

rentals of #17 per sq.ft by December and a further 29% tipping an #18

top rent.

There was widespread agreement that the city's stock of around

2,000,000 sq.ft of inferior second-hand space would be difficult to let.

Some 86% believed that incentives would have to be increased before much

of that older stock would let, while 96% expected incentives on modern

quality space to decline.

When asked whether they were more or less optimistic now than at this

time last year, some 68% of the agents polled indicated that they were

''slightly more'' optimistic while 28.5% said they were ''much more''

optimistic.

Chairman Robert Young of surveyors Richard Ellis hopes that the

agents' society will play a more active role in professional development

of its members.

''In the past it was a bit of a lunch club, but there is a new

commitment in Glasgow to making sure that the society plays a real role

in the city,'' he said.