Leasing of commercial property has seen a 40 per cent rise in central London, according to new research by property consultants Cushman & Wakefield.
The first quarter of 2013 has seen an increase in activity within the sector as tenants have wanted to make the most of landlords offering cheap rental rates. This meant that the amount of office space occupied in the centre of the capital city had reached over 2.1 million sq ft by the end of the first quarter. This is comparable to 1.5 million sq ft this time last year.
Guy Taylor of Cushman & Wakefield said: “Occupiers are increasingly broadening their search criteria in an effort to find perceived good value office accommodation. Larger occupiers, in particular, are more footloose... taking the opportunity to drive a hard bargain and secure maximum value from landlords.”
A third of this take-up was down to Google’s leasing of 800,000 sq ft at King’s Cross Central. This is where the new headquarters for the online giant will be, meaning that take-up in the West End is now a mammoth 1.3 million sq ft. This means that whilst there is still 1.6 million sq ft of office space left in the City, the West End only has 345,000 sq ft of free space. The City and Docklands also saw a 13 per cent increase of let office space compared to 2012.
Further boosts have been seen with landlords forging deals with sites such as Heron Tower and Cannon Place.
According to City AM, Andrew Parker, head of City agency added: “The significant amount of space under offer in the City market is partly driven by landlords of buildings who have incurred substantial letting voids, being prepared to offer very attractive financial terms to secure prospective occupiers.”
This is the strongest first quarter seen since 2000 and is 75 per cent ahead of the activity which was witnessed in the first three months of 2012.