Half-way point in the year

Interesting figures at the half way point in the year reveal what every agent has been thinking for the last 6 months, demand is up and supply is continuing to fall. Figures suggest that take up of Central London office space us up 17% over the past 6 months, compared to the 2013 figures. Whereas availability of space is now 20% lower than this time last year across the whole of Central London. Even more worrying is that the figures suggest we are 30% below the 10 year average for availability in Central London, indicating a year on year decrease of at least 15% in every sub market of Central London except the ‘south east fringe’.

In regard to take up, every sub market has seen a rise in take up of office space with the SE1 and Dockland markets seeing the largest spike in take up. SE1 continues to grow and perform with a 91% increase year on year with a total of 834,000 sq. ft. already transacted in the region this half of the year alone. However this has come hand in hand with a 15% decrease in space (excluding the Shard) in the area. As with the whole market, SE1 is still struggling to combat the huge overwhelming demand for space in the area but with the area still undergoing a regeneration and further space looking to come to the market at the end of this year and early next year, SE1 is in a great position to start to make waves in the market and become a much more established and desirable area for occupiers. The other sub market which has performed well in the first half of the year in the Docklands who has seen 679,000 sq. ft. of space transacted which compared to the just over 100,000 sq. ft. of space transacted in the same period in 2013 really emphasises how strong both the market is and how desirable the Docklands area has become.

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.