Office Vacancy Rates In The West End Of London Static For Final Quarter Of 2012
Office vacancy rates in the West End of London were static as at the final quarter of 2012. This comes despite a 10% increase in availability in the fourth quarter of 2012. The cyclical high was 9.9% in the second quarter of 2009.
Paul Smith of the office agency team comments that the market saw a “subdued” end to 2012 as expectations of major pre-lets being concluded before year end were only partially met.
Take-up for the final three months was significantly down on the strong Q3 total, partly due to protracted deal negotiations.
‘’There remains a healthy demand for office space, particularly from technology and new media companies’’ Smith added.
Recently West End-related announcements included Facebook seeking 30,000 sq ft of overflow space and Freemantle Media seeking 50,000 sq ft of space.
