The City Market
Availability of office space in the city has grown over the last 9 months and increased by 10% to c.7.0m sq.ft. in the last quarter. However the main increases were in second hand space, at the largest end of the scale where Blackrock, JP Morgan and Nomura released legacy space
In contrast, the supply of small units, is comparatively tight both in the City core and also on the Northern fringes of the City where the TMT sector has continued its migration from the more expensive West End and fringe West End areas.
So what does one conclude from this activity? Firstly, given the economic uncertainty it is not surprising that that firms are thinking twice about moving and existing landlords are being much more competitive and persuading occupiers to stay. Secondly, it is not all bad news, as the smaller end of the market has remained comparatively active, as smaller more nimble firms take advantage of good deals in the market. Thirdly, as some areas of the market retrenched others, most noticeably the TMT sector, have been very active and this has had an upwards effect on rents in these areas, ie the North City Fringe. Fourthly, certain parts of the market are experiencing downward pressure on rents &edash; ie larger, more centrally located second-hand offices, particularly where (mainly financial) occupiers are very keen to off-load surplus space.
Therefore whilst prime rents are notionally still c.£55 psf, there are bargains to be found if you know where to look for them. We anticipate that these trends will continue for the rest of 2012.
The final quarter of 2011 completed a difficult year in the City office market, which was characterised by concerns over the Eurozone, the economy falling back into recession and considerable nervousness in the financial markets.
Q4 take-up was down by 6% in the quarter to 997,000 sq.ft. resulting in the year’s total take-up being 3.74m sq.ft., down 40% for the 6.24m sq.ft. taken up in 2010. This is 25% less than the 5 year quarterly average of 1.29m sq.ft. The main reason for this was a lack of large deals; only one transaction of greater than 100,000 sq.ft. took place in 2011, in comparison to 6 in 2010. This transaction was that of Aon pre-letting 196,000 sq.ft. in the Leadenhall Building in December.
The deal was significant in two contrasting ways — firstly, Aon also announced that they were moving their Global HQ from Chicago to London — a significant boost for the London insurance market. Second but more ominously, without this transaction, Q4 take-up would have fallen by 25% to c.800,000 sq.ft. back to the levels experienced in the first half of the year.
However, the smaller end of the market has been holding up fairly well, particularly in the size range below 5,000 sq.ft. where take-up was up 15% on 2010 &emdash; see Cappuccino graph. In addition, the number of deals in 2011 was up by 16% to 780 deals in comparison to the previous year.
The London Office Guide is useful to help tenants find London office space to rent, London offices to let, central London offices to rent and both serviced offices and commercial property space. In addition to helping find London offices to rent and central London office space to let, it is useful for finding London serviced office space and business centres, London agent surveyors and information on the London office markets. Finding office space to let in London can be daunting. The right office space to rent in London is critical for many companies and if they don't find the right London office space to let their business and staff may be affected. Office space in London and London office property to rent can be expensive so companies need to shop around as much as possible. Overall, the London Office Guide is the most useful website and publication to help tenants find London office properties to let and central London commercial space. Especially office space in central London which includes City office space, Midtown offices and West End office space.
Included in the City of London are the postcodes EC1, EC2, EC3, and EC4. On the City fringe are London E1, London N1, London SE1, the southeastern part of London E2 and the southern part of London N7. London E14 includes office space to let in Canary Wharf and offices to rent in London Docklands. It is a separate office market but it competes for many of the same type of tenants the City does. Office space to let in London EC1 includes the areas of Clerkenwell, Smithfield and Farringdon which are east of Farringdon Road. Many media and hi-tech companies find these areas appealing. Offices to let in London EC2 include the areas around the Bank of England and Stock Exchange. Banks and financial companies of course prefer London office space in this postcode. Offices to rent in London EC3 include the area around Fenchurch Street and Eastcheap. Traditional home of insurance companies. Office space to let in London EC4 east of New Bridge Street include the areas around St. Paul's, Cannon Street and Blackfriars stations. London office space to rent is less expensive in the fringe postcodes. However, there is high quality London office space to let in London E1 around Spitalfields, Shoreditch and St. Katharine's. There is also new high quality offices to rent in London SE1 along the southbank and new office space to let in London N1 around King's Cross. There is also a range of inexpensive offices to rent around Angel and Old Street in London N1. Offices to let in London Docklands are mostly modern and the Canary Wharf office space to let is some of the best in all of Europe.
London Midtown is the area between the City and the West End. It is all of London WC1 and London WC2. It also contains London EC1 west of Farringdon Road and London EC4 west of New Bridge Street. Office space to let in London WC1 include offices to rent around Holborn and office space to let in Bloomsbury and also king's Cross. Offices to rent in London WC2 include Covent Garden office space to let and offices to rent around Leicester Square and the Strand. The Midtown office market is divided by Kingsway. Midtown office space to let east of Kingsway competes more with the City. Midtown offices to rent west of Kingsway tend to compete with the West End. Covent Garden offices to rent compete mostly with Soho office space while Bloomsbury offices for rent compete with office space in the West End north of Oxford Street.
The central or core West End of London office market comprises mainly London W1 office space to let. It also contains St James's offices to rent which is London SW1. London W1 offices to rent are in three geographical parts of the postcode. Mayfair, Soho and north of Oxford Street. Mayfair is the south west part of the London W1. Mayfair office space to let is some of the most expensive in the world. Soho is the south east part of London W1. Soho offices to rent have traditionally appealed to advertising and media companies. London W1 north of Oxford Street is divided into several office markets. There is office space to let in Noho which is immediately north of Soho. Soho office space to let is more expensive though. North of Noho are offices to rent in Fitzrovia which is the north east part of London W1. London W1 west of Portland Place is the remaining office market north of Oxford Street. It comprises mostly period office properties converted from residential.
The Greater West End of London includes offices to let in all of London NW1 and part of London NW8 to the north. To the south it includes almost all of London SW1, part of London SW8 and part of London SE11. To the south west all of London SW5, London SW6, London SW7, London SW10 and parts of London SW11, London SW15 and London SW18. To the west all of London W2, London W6, London W8, London W9, London W10, London W11, London W12 and London W14. Office space to let in London NW1 and London NW8 are offices to rent in Camden, Euston and Marylebone. Office space to let in London SW1 includes offices to rent in London Victoria, Belgravia, Millbank, Westminster, and Whitehall. In London SW8 and London SE11 are offices to let in Battersea and office space to rent in Vauxhall. In the south west there is office space to let in Chelsea, Fulham, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, South Kensington, Putney and Wandsworth. The office space to let in London SW11 also includes parts of Battersea. The Knightsbridge office space to let is expensive. Knightsbridge offices to rent compete with Mayfair. To the west there is office space to let in Paddington, Hammersmith, Bayswater, Kensington and West Kensington. There is Hammersmith office space to let in London W6 and Hammersmith offices to rent in London W12. London W14 office space to rent comprises mostly West Kensington.
In some cases serviced offices in central London or business centres in London might be more appropriate for some companies. London serviced office space is ideal for smaller companies. Serviced offices in London are usually available month to month and include furniture and services as well as the space. There is a range of London serviced office space available. From expensive prestige buildings to basic economical space. Before trying to find office space in London and especially central London office property to rent, tenants should refer to the London Office Guide.
