Office take-up for the core West End areas totalled 3m square feet in 2017, which is 4.6% above the 10-year average.

This increase in take-up was driven by higher activity in Fitzrovia, St James, Soho, and Covent Garden. However, there has been decreased activity in other core West End areas in this time such as Marylebone, and Mayfair. There was just 473,300 square feet of take-up in the first quarter of 2018 with the largest letting being the 32,000 square foot letting by serviced office provider Regus at 60-62 St Martins Lane, continuing the growing trend of co-working companies expanding their West End portfolios.

Prime rental values across most West End submarkets have either remained stable or have seen a downward trend in the six months from October 2017 with the average rent down by 1.7%. This is as a result of many occupiers looking for refurbished or secondary office space which provides better value in the West End. As a consequence of these changing occupier preferences, rents on refurbished space have increased by 2.2% with secondary rents rising by an average of 5.3% in the West End.

The business and professional services industries have been responsible for the largest share of take-up of offices in the West End, occupying approximately 41% of available office space in this time. The financial services industry have also taken up a large amount of space, with approximately 18% of occupiers being in that industry. In terms of the size of the space occupied, approximately 44% is between 2,500 and 10,000 square feet in size. In addition, 17% of space let was between 1,000 and 2,500 square feet in size, with an additional 33% of lettings at over 10,000 square feet. Just 6% of the space let in this time was under 1,000 square feet, indicating a lack of take-up of smaller offices as more and more start-ups and boutique companies choosing the convenience of serviced offices.

Here at Robert Irving Burns, we have a wide range of offices in the West End. To view our West End offices to let, click here or contact one of our dedicated commercial advisors.