Will the Submarkets Boom?

As congestion in London increases, with rents being pushed to an all-time high and travel links improving many businesses are looking outside of central London for offices. Croydon is becoming increasingly popular destination for businesses to relocate to; for grade A space rents in the City are averaging £55 – 65 per square foot compared to just £20 in Croydon. If you don’t need the City address you would be mad not to relocate. Other emerging submarkets to keep your eye on are Stratford and Silvertown.

Morgan Pryce’s client base tend to look for space between 1000 – 5000 sq. ft. and in the current market this size of space is in especially high demand and short supply, even in the outer sub markets. In East Croydon alone, 1 million sq. ft. of office space is being converted to residential! However, there are a number of proposed developments in Croydon, such as Ruskin Square which is a £500 million project designed to turn Croydon into one of the Capitals major office districts by introducing hundreds of flats, offices, shops and restaurants on ‘wasteland’ by East Croydon Station. 

The regeneration of the ‘East Croydon Gateway’ by Stanhope and Schroders is underway as the construction of 161 apartments, 625 homes and 22,000 sq. ft. of offices has begun, with a 10 storey office block proposed for the 2nd part of the development. 

AMP House is a prime example where tenants have relocated and is now 95% let. Insurance broker Arthur J Gallagher has taken 6,641 sq. ft. on the 9th floor for 10 years, similarly Direct Line has taken 6,641 sq. ft. on the 7th for 9 years and Chromalax 6,000 sq. ft. on the 2nd for 9 years; for around £18 psf.  They are hoping to achieve £19.50 psf in the remaining 8,000 sq. ft.  

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.