Central London office take-up rises, but uncertain occupiers withdraw from deals – CBRE
Take-up of office space in Central London fell 30% compared with December, to 839,400 sq ft, after a relatively strong end to 2011, says CBRE. But this figure was 38% more than in January 2011, the firm notes.
While take-up of Docklands offices jumped to 90,200 sq ft from 9,300 sq ft, take-up of office space in the West End fell 49% month-on-month while for Southbank offices the figure plummeted 86%. Secondhand space accounted for 82% of the deals done in January. The Docklands total was boosted by the Financial Ombudsman Service taking 74,710 sq ft of Grade B space at 191 Marsh Wall. CBRE notes that the only other deal above 50,000 sq ft during the month was the 66,200 sq ft to Mace Group at 155 Moorgate in the City.
The low amount of space under offer – just 1.82m sq ft in January, the lowest monthly figure since June 2009 – suggests that take-up levels will be weak over the next few months, CBRE says. Total availability of office space across Central London was 16.1m sq ft in January, up slightly from December as more secondhand space came onto the market. This figure represents an availability rate of 5.3%, the firm notes. Active requirements in January totalled 11.19m sq ft, down from 12.07m sq ft in December.
Philip Howells, executive director at CBRE, said: “Occupiers are still reluctant to commit to significant deals in the current economic climate and this was reflected by a number of large deals under offer being withdrawn. But active requirements are still relatively high and this, coupled with forthcoming lease events, should help drive future take-up.”
