ANALYSIS: LONDON OFFICES MARKET ANALYSIS
LONDON BOUNCES BACK
Normality returns to the market following the EU referendum vote
and a shock snap General Election
EG Data reporter Karl Tomusk, reviews investment, take-up also looks at who London Top Office Agent Q2 2017.
With the Cheesegrater, EC3, sold in the City’s second biggest investment deal, Brexit negotiations becoming a normal fact of life and the snap election safely behind us, London has resuscitated its leasing market and kick-started its activity.
Take-up rebounded to just above 3m sq ft, up by 50% on Q2 last year and up by 20% on Q1 this year. Although the bar was set low, considering the sluggish lead up to the EU referendum last year, take-up in Q2 was within 2% of the five-year average, according to EG’s London Office Market Analysis. A semblance of normality has returned. There were only three major deals of more than 100,000 sq ft – just as there were in Q1
– as the market continued to rely on the sheer volume of smaller deals. However, availability rates continued to rise on average, from 6.97% to 7.17%, with average rents falling as a result. In Mayfair/St James, rents were down by 7.9% year-on-year, to £113 per sq ft, and in Victoria there was a 4.9% fall to £76 per sq ft. If parts of London are slowing despite rising activity, who is spurring on the market – and why are occupiers choosing to stay in the capital?
WHO IS LONDON’S TOP OFFICE AGENT?
AGENCY | DISPOSED (sq ft) | |
1. | Cushman & Wakefield | 1,418,629 |
2. | CBRE | 1,076,088 |
3. | JLL | 621,885 |
4. | Knight Frank | 304,933 |
5. | Colliers International | 291,304 |
6. | Savills | 209,709 |
7. | GM Real Estate | 180,790 |
8. | Allsop | 138,706 |
9. | Strutt & Parker | 122,297 |
10. | Gerald Eve | 97,939 |
11. | Newton Perkins | 96,399 |
12. | Bluebook | 81,808 |
13. | BNP Paribas Real Estate | 73,890 |
14. | Hall Kemp | 65,299 |
15. | Union Street Partners | 65,183 |
16. | Monmouth Dean LLP | 61,860 |
17. | Pilcher Hershman | 60,947 |
18. | Edward Charles & Partners | 57,190 |
19. | James Andrew International Limited | 44,382 |
20. | Frost Meadowcroft | 41,735 |
Source Article: EG 29 JULY 2017