Landlords ramp up plug and play amid serviced office boom

London landlords are increasingly offering more plug and play space to compete with the rise of serviced offices. With serviced offices making up an increasing proportion of the smaller (sub-5,000 sq ft) and larger enterprise tenant market, landlords are having to differentiate and expand their offering in order to meet an increasingly varied set of requirements.  As well as leasing space directly to a service office provider and launching their own brands, landlords are fitting out Cat A+ or plug and play space to offer ready to occupy space on flexible terms.  Void periods can fall to between one and three months with a Cat A+ provision, which is below the six to 12 months often recorded with conventional leases that are increasingly reaching 24 months in extreme cases, according to a report by Avison Young. There is also evidence to suggest rental premiums have been achieved with Cat A+ provisions, generally a 10% uplift on previously compromised space, which is in addition to a reduced rent free period of around three to six months, compared with over nine months on a traditional lease, the report showed. Recent launches with a Cat A+ element include Orchard Street’s 75 Farringdon; Nuveen’s 17 Britton Street; Helical and Ashby Capital’s 90 Bartholomew Close; and The Mercers’ Company’s 8 Frederick’s Place. To send feedback, e-mail anna.ward@egi.co.uk or tweet @annaroxelana or @estatesgazette