As you would expect, the City of Westminster is a prime topic at today’s London Real Estate Forum.
There’s been a great deal of discussion about the increasing competition across the capital from up and coming areas like Shoreditch which are attracting start-ups and younger businesses that want something different to the West End. If you believe the hype, you would think the West End is losing out.
However, our analysis shows that the take up of the sub 5000 sq ft market in Westminster has been stable since 2015 with little or no change in vacancy rates, even though it is one of the most expensive areas. Despite the increase in flexible office space, there’s no surplus of space – supply and demand are currently in balance.
Of course, this picture may change in the future if the demand for flexible office space really takes off and some landlords are already taking steps to address this challenge. And while areas like Shoreditch continue to attract, rents are getting more expensive all the time, so they don’t look as good value as they used to.
