London out-and-out

London property prices are featured in the news on a daily basis at present. The upward surge in prices isn’t limited to residential properties, and companies are finding themselves priced out of Central London and even the surrounding areas more than ever. Businesses are being forced to weigh up the benefits of being centrally located against the cost of rents in that desired location – and many businesses are deciding it isn’t worth it. 

From small businesses to multinationals, the trend in recent years has been to investigate areas that would have once been disregarded as unsuitable or undesirable, as business owners see the value of more space for their pound. 

We have reported in the past on Google’s move to its King’s Cross headquarters, and the Shoreditch influx has been well documented; this area is so well established now that even this location is beyond the means of many. 

Hence, many people are opting for no office at all, with staff who work at home, meet in hired meeting rooms, and with virtual assistants and receptionists who are now easy to hire. However, this is not an option for many businesses, particularly client-facing ones, and these companies need to look further afield if they want a London bricks-and-mortar base. As a result, what has been dubbed London’s ‘business belt’ is expanding. 

King’s Cross is indeed one of these areas, with its excellent transport links, including rail and airport, but its desirability, the investment in it and its resulting improvements mean that prices here too are now high enough to put many companies off. 

The Farringdon and Clerkenwell area is proving an increasingly popular choice for such companies, with Holborn noticing an upturn in demand and other outlying districts offering lower prices to start-ups and small businesses. 

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.