Q2 2019 Central London office market report
Q2 saw core rental growth return in the Central London office market. A lack of supply impacted investment volumes yet there was a pick up in leasing activity.
Quarterly economic performance has been mixed so far this year, despite this, the Central London leasing market saw a quarter on quarter upturn in activity, with just under 2.8 million sq ft let. This was up 25% on Q1 volumes and is at a similar level to volumes seen in Q2 2018.
Encouragingly, the level of space under offer increased by 16% to reach more than 3.7 million sq ft and pre-leasing continued to play an important role in the market.
Supply levels increased for the second consecutive quarter to 11.5 million sq ft, which resulted in a vacancy rate of 4.9%. Speculative development starts increased to the highest level for more than 10 years, as just under 2.0 million sq ft of speculative space broke ground during the quarter.
However, as pre-letting continued to absorb the future pipeline and political uncertainty continued, the market saw another quarter of subdued investment activity.
Read more in the Q2 2019 Central London office market report.