Availability of London Offices to Rent Falls to Worrying New Low

Research by Colliers international shows a decline in the amount of London offices to rent arriving on the London market.

Research shows that whilst office space entering the market has fallen, the number of pre-lets are on the rise.

The lack of new prime London offices to rent arriving on to the property market in the capital has seen quarterly figures decline. However, research has shown that pre-lets are at their highest level since the third quarter of 2007, according to Colliers International.

In the City, the level of empty London offices to rent also saw little change over the quarter, with the rate continuing to hold at 9.5 per cent. Meanwhile the organisation commented that ‘a shortage of new supply still remains a concern’, highlighting, where the total amount of new refurbished office space has fallen by 33 per cent over the past year.

According to the company, the amount of Grade A London offices to rent ‘remained flat’ during the three months from July to September, with overall vacancy rates standing at 7.7 per cent.

However, things aren’t looking quite the same in other regions of the UK, with the latest Commercial Market Survey from the Royal Instituion of Chartered Surveyors revealing that occupier demand fell across the country during the third quarter of the year. The body registered a 15 per cent increase in the number of respondents stating that available space had risen rather than fallen during the three-month period.

In other news, Royal Bank of Canada subsidiary RBC Wealth Management is set to move to new London offices as it looks to raise staffing levels and grow its UK business.

The company plans to take on 70 new stuff by 2015 for its wealth management team, which currently numbers 30.

Mike Moodie, Head of RBC Wealth Management UK, said: “This new office space is proof of our ambitions and reflects RBC’s focus on further establishing the UK as the third ‘home’ market for our two global businesses, RBC Wealth Management and RBC Capital Markets.

“We see tremendous opportunities to grow our wealth management business in the UK, focusing on clients based in London and the South East. Riverbank House offers outstanding facilities which I know will be enjoyed by employees, clients and alike,” he added.