A recent report from the World Property Journal into the London office markets has revealed how 2014 saw the “take-up of office space in central London rising by 16% to 15.9 million square feet…well ahead of the ten year average figure of 13.0 million square feet.” At the same time a similar report from Bloomberg.com said how the number of vacancies “in the City of London financial district are set to reach a 15-year low of 4.8 percent in 2015”.
Massive Investments
Given the size and scale of some of London’s financial and commercial sectors though, these figures on increased square-footageshould not come as a surprise. However, what is notable is how the fall in vacant space in some areas comes despite anumber of significant overseas investments in office property.
According to the Evening Standard last year, £18.5 billion of overseas cashwas put into the city’s major areas. This included the “£330 million purchase of Tower Place by Chinese insurer Ping An… and China Life’s £800 million acquisition of Clifford Chance’s 10 Upper Bank Street headquarters at Canary Wharf.” One of the largest reported deals was the Qatari purchase of HSBC’s Dockland HQ for the eye-watering sum of £1.1 billion.
London Calling
So what is about London which is proving to be so sought-after? A simple answer to this is that it has so much to offer a large number of industries.
Arguably one of the biggest draws is how it boasts one of the world’s premier financial hubs in The City. At the same time, London is home to a large portion of the UK’s primary media outlets from television to newspapers and music production. Along with this there’s also a vast array of retail and commercial companies, and of course, the fact that London is brimming with tourist attractions and interesting cultural aspects. In a nutshell, it hassurplus amounts of appealing factors on offer to current and prospective employees.
A Smart Business Move
It certainly seems then that London is a great place to have an office, whatwith so much on offer both commercially and socially. That being said, given the continuing surge in demand for office property and the supposed drop in supply, it makes sense to look for alternatives to buying outright. Established London-based companies like Landmark PLC for instance have serviced office spaces ready and available to lease. So if you are looking to head for the capital, you might want to consider consulting professional property leasing services for more info.
