^{Source: Savills Research}

■ With nearly 800,000 sq ft under offer at the end of October, it looks likely that 2017 will be the second best year on record for the leasing activity in the West End, delivering just under the five million square feet that was seen in 2007.

■ 31% of the space leased in the West End so far this year has been to businesses in the Creative and Technology sectors. Though in second place is the Serviced office sector, which has accounted for 20% of take-up this year.

■ The continuing strong take-up and comparatively restrained development pipeline led to a fall in the overall West End vacancy rate last month from 3.9% to 3.8%. This means that the total level of available office space in the West End is just over 360,000 sq ft lower than it was in June 2017.

^{Source: Savills Research}

■ Steady pre-letting activity across the West End this year means that there are now only four available buildings capable of accommodating 100,000 sq ft requirements.

■ Interestingly, two of these four available buildings are tenant-controlled. It is the addition of EE's space at The Point and Marks & Spencer's space at 5 Merchant Square that explains why the proportion of the available space that is tenant-controlled has risen from 15% at the end of 2016 to 37% today.

■ The balance between demand and supply in the West End remains firmly in the landlord's favour, with the current supply equating to 11.6 months of take-up at the average rate that has been seen over the last year.

^{Source: Savills Research}

■ This explains why all grades of office space in the West End continue to experience upward pressure on headline rents.

■ The average Grade A rent that was achieved in October 2017 was £83.15 per square foot, which is the highest it has been since April 2017. The average Grade B rent achieved also rose month on month to £64.73 per square foot in October.

Analysis close up

^{Demand figures include central London requirements}

^{Completions due in the next six months are included in the supply figures}

^{* Average prime rents for preceding three months}

^{** Average rent free on leases of 10 years for preceding three months}