The London office market and the need for a representative agent

London’s office market has seen record levels of demand, far outweighing supply on offer. A lack of available space has led to rental peaks breaking records across the capital; St James has seen a rent of £185 per square foot, whilst sub markets such as SE1, Eastern Fringes and the City also have experienced rental levels on their highest levels ever.

The combination of record rental levels and a lack of space means that this is very much a landlord’s market. As such, it is becoming increasingly difficult for tenants to achieve reasonable lease agreements without representation from an agent with knowledge of the current market conditions, sub-market to sub-market, who has previously completed transactions in the chosen areas. The benefit of having an agent working on a tenants behalf is therefore key in the current market.

Eugene O’Sullivan, Managing Director at Morgan Pryce, said: “Landlords are in a very privileged position at the moment, as there are often more than one tenant competing for acquiring space.

However, landlords are still more inclined to enter negotiations with represented parties over non-represented, since the process is faster when both parties have representation, and landlords would not want their space to be on the market unoccupied for longer than it needs to be. If a landlord enter a negotiation with an unrepresented tenant, the process is often protracted due to various reasons. In conclusion, tenants are more likely to secure the space when being represented.”

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.