Figures show
London office take-up reached 13.2m sq ft in 2017, up 7 per cent on the previous year, according to CBRE, the world’s leading real estate advisor. The figures were buoyed by large transactions, with 2017 witnessing 17 transactions of over 100,000 sq ft, the highest annual total since 2001.
Take-up in Central London for the final quarter of 2017 was 3.8m sq ft, representing an increase of 10% on the previous quarter. Take-up in each of the last three quarters has been above the 10-year average of 3.1m sq ft.
There were seven deals of over 100,000 sq ft in Q4 2017, more than in any quarter since Q1 2010. The business services sector accounted for the largest proportion of take-up at 37 per cent, followed by the creative industries sector (20 per cent) and the banking and finance sector (15 per cent).
The level of under offers in Central London stood at 3.1m sq ft in Q4, 11 per cent above the 10-year average of 2.8m sq ft, point to a continuation of strong take-up at the start of year. The largest proportion of under offers were located in the City, where under offer levels at the end of Q4 stood at 1.4m sq ft, 22 per cent above the 10-year average.
Emma Crawford, Managing Director, London Leasing at CBRE commented: “Against a difficult backdrop in 2017, London once again gritted its teeth and showed its continued resilience. This is reflected in our office leasing figures which show a year on year increase of 7 per cent. Whilst the serviced office sector accounted for a large proportion of leasing activity in Central London, as we finished the year the largest under offer of the quarter was in the banking sector, which despite initial fears is indicative of London maintaining its crown as Europe’s premier financial hub.”
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