Contents

• Across the City market

• Across the West End market

Across the City market

Take-up in November reached 470,695 sq ft across 39 transactions, bringing the total for the first eleven months of the year to 5.4m – down 3% on last year and down 4% on the long-term average.

In November, the Insurance and Financial Services sector continued to drive take-up in the city, driven by financial services firm Allianz’s letting of 15 Bishopsgate, EC2, the building which was previously occupied by serviced office provider WeWork. In the first eleven months of this year, this sector has been responsible for 35% of total take-up, the most of any sector, followed by the Tech & Media sector with 20%. This take-up has been driven by medium-sized firms with deals sized between 15,000 and 25,000 sq ft, contributing to over 20% of take-up (by sq ft) in the first eleven months, up 48% on the five-year average for this size band.

Positively, the amount of space that has gone under offer over the past two months provides a sign of increasing market confidence. During October and November, a combined figure of 840,404 sq ft of space went under offer, higher than the monthly long-term average of 330,000 sq ft. The appetite within the market is still high, with active requirements breaching 11m sq ft, 59% above the long-term average. Currently, there are 62 active requirements in the market above 50,000 sq ft, half of which are above 100,000 sq ft. However, it should be noted that most shortlists will include a ‘Stay vs Go’ option.

City Highlights

Across the West End market

November saw 360,164 sq ft complete across 23 transactions as we continued to see an uptick in the number of larger deals, with the number of 15,000 sq ft+ transactions completing this month at the highest level we have recorded since December last year. Year-to-date take-up now stands at 3.2m sq ft, up 19% on the same period last year, although it should be noted that 22% of 2023’s leasing activity took place in the final month of the year. The ongoing improvement in take-up relative to this time last year has led to the third consecutive monthly fall in the vacancy rate to 7.0%, the lowest level in 18 months.

The largest transaction to take place was Creative Arts Agency’s (CAA) pre-let of the entirety of 21 Bloomsbury Street, WC1, which is relocating from its existing space in Hammersmith. Not only does this mark the largest whole building office deal to complete so far this year, but it is also the largest pre-let to take place in the North of Oxford Street East submarket since 2017. In recent years, this submarket has witnessed subdued levels of demand, with 2023 take-up falling to a 22-year low, largely due to the fall-off in activity from the Tech & Media sector, which has been the traditional driver of demand in this market. However, the combination of the CAA transaction, in addition to the significant acquisitions made earlier in the year by the likes of Monday.com and VCCP, has brought take-up levels to 7% above the five-year average.

West End Highlights

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