Relocation Relocation Relocation

In 2014, the Central London office market saw lots of change with new markets emerging, mainly from the usual submarket occupiers relocating and rents steadily increasing across the board. In 2015, the Morgan Pryce team believes we will see more of the same. Oliver Salter, a surveyor at Morgan Pryce thinks that “two key areas will emerge this year, north of the City for example, Dalston whose rental figures are currently a few years behind Shoreditch, its techy equivalent, with other key areas north of the City being Islington, Kilburn and Wembley. Another part of London to keep your eye on is south of the river, namely Battersea and Vauxhall. With the US Embassy relocating to Battersea, regeneration and the introduction of better rail links we should see new development and rental increases.” 

At Morgan Pryce most of our clients have seen value in being on the river, and thus we do too; this has been particularly evident in recent years at South Bank and London Bridge which can be seen by the increase in rents, popularity and amount of development in the area. 

Proposed travel links such as Crossrail coupled with the lack of supply and high demand pushing up rents in Mayfair and the City has meant previously unconsidered areas are now on the occupiers map. Large corporations such as Amazon moving their 5,000 person strong headquarters to Principal Place is an example of where an occupier no longer needs to be in the City. Another example is Hackney Wick where the New Hackney Fashion Hub is planned to be constructed. These moves can be beneficial for areas previously lacking in infrastructure as it brings capital to the area. 

Not to be overlooked but far from set in stone is the plan to create a train service running from Stratford International to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Cologne meaning Stratford will be put on the map and could become another fringe location that occupiers turn to instead of the facing the rents and congestion of the centre of London. 

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.