Central London office take-up reached 3.7million sq ft in Q3 2018, 18 per cent higher than the ten-year average and 6 per cent higher than in Q3 2017, according to the latest research from global property advisor Knight Frank.
The three largest deals in the quarter were Facebook acquiring 600,000 sq ft across three buildings in King’s Cross Central; Publicis 212,000 sq ft take-up at White City Place and the V&A taking 145,000 sq ft at Here East in Stratford.
Will Beardmore Gray, Head of Central London at Knight Frank commented: “Despite all the talk of companies putting decision making on hold until after the Brexit conclusion, this is clearly not what we are seeing in the Central London office market.
“This is contributing to the fact that over 50 per cent of the offices being built are already pre-leased to tenants and on current take-up levels will lead to a significant shortage of grade A offices over the next three years. Companies will have to make their decisions now if they want to find the right space in the right location or they will miss out.
“One trend we are definitely seeing, and expect to continue, is an appetite to look outside of the traditional Central London core locations. King’s Cross, White City and Stratford are three markets that are flourishing as developers have used place making, well connected transport links and modern new office buildings to appeal to a new breed of occupiers.”
