London office spec completion on the rise

The six months to March 2017 saw over 2m sq ft of speculative office completions in London for the first time since 2009. Data from EG’s London Office Market Analysis indicates that 1.3m sq ft of unlet completions came through in Q1 2017, added to the 900,000 sq ft that came through speculatively in the final three months of 2016. The preceding five years has seen, on average, 818,000 sq ft of speculative completions across six-month periods, meaning that the latest data represents a 150% increase on the five-year average. Pre-construction availability, meanwhile, is at just 8.7m sq ft, representing 28% of the total space on the market – substantially below average figures for the previous five years. Facts and figures 2.2m sq ft Total speculative space completed in London, October 2016 to March 2017 43% The West End accounted for nearly half of this total 0.65m sq ft Total speculative space completed in London, six months to October 2016 250% Increase in spec completions, going by the six-month cycle 4.4m sq ft – total new-build space marketed at the end of Q1 2017 25 Highest new-build availability for 25 quarters (2010 Q3) 8.7m sq ft Total pre-construction space actively marketed, Q1 2017 12.2m sq ft Five-year average pre-construction space marketed To send feedback, e-mail graham.shone@egi.co.uk or tweet @GShoneEG or @estatesgazette