Central London Office Briefing, Q4 2012

West End occupier market
During Q4 2012, 822,027 sq ft was let, 3.9% up on Q3 2012 and 20% up on the five-year quarterly average. Despite the strong end to the year, take up for 2012 was still 10.2% down on 2011 at 2.8 million sq ft, although it was 3.0% up on the five-year annual average.

City occupier market
Take up for Q4 2012 totalled 1.5 million sq ft, up 42.7% on the previous quarter, and 29.6% up on the five-year quarterly average. The very strong final quarter meant that take up for 2012 totalled 4.7 million sq ft, 19% up on 2011 and 2.7% up on the five-year annual average.

Docklands occupier market
Take up for the fourth quarter of the year totalled only 75,126 sq ft, 59.3% down on the previous quarter and 75.4% down on the five-year quarterly average. This means that take up for 2012 totalled 418,300 sq ft, the lowest annual take up since 2009

Central London investment market
Investment transactions in central London for Q4 2012 totalled £3.1 billion, 12.1% up on the £2.8 billion measured in Q3 2012, and 45.6% up on the five-year quarterly average of £2.2 billion.