The performance of the central London commercial property market improved during the second half of 2011, compared to the first six months.
Take-up of
central London offices reached 3 million sq ft of transactions during the final quarter of last year alone, a new Knight Frank report noted.
Availability of
central London offices declined by nine per cent over 2011, with 16.9 million sq ft of space free for businesses to lease.
Construction of schemes in the West End and the City helped to boost speculative developments to 5.1 million sq ft, the Offices report for the fourth quarter of 2011 revealed.
The study also compared
London offices in the West End, the City and the Docklands. Prime headline rents for the West End stood at £92.50 per sq ft, dropping to £55 per sq ft in the Square Mile and £36 per sq ft at the Docklands.
In addition, take-up of
West End offices came to 1.3 million sq ft in the final quarter of last year. The figures for the City and the Docklands stood at 1.4 million sq ft and 543,000 sq ft respectively.
Availability of
West End offices declined from 5.4 million sq ft to 4.9 million sq ft between the third and fourth quarters. The Shard helped boost the number of offices for rent in the City, where availability stood at 10.4 million sq ft. It held steady in the Docklands, with 1.5 million sq ft of space free on the market.
The Shard - when fully completed in 2013 - will deliver a range of floor sizes starting at 14,500 sq ft, with 25 floors of Grade A
central London offices.
It is located in the London Bridge Quarter, which sits between the West End, Canary Wharf, the City, Westminster and the South Bank.
Posted by John Evans
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