London’s office market has started this year with its lowest quarterly take-up figure since the first three months of 2012. The 1.9m sq ft in completed transactions is a 37% drop on the 10-year average for occupational activity, according to analysis from Radius Data Exchange.
The mammoth 307,000 sq ft letting to Linklaters at 20 Ropemaker, EC2, represented 16% of all space let during the first quarter – only three times in the last seven years has an individual deal comprised a greater share of activity in any given quarter.
Investment started more positively. There was £2.3bn in completed transactions, reflecting a 67% increase in spend year-on-year. However, the figure was still down 35% on the five-year quarterly average for capital commitments.
