Office rents on London’s South Bank are closer to City rents than ever before and could soon trump the Square Mile, according to research by Knight Frank.
The average prime office rent in the City core is £66.50 per sq ft (an 11% increase from last year), compared with £62.50 per sq ft for the South Bank (an increase of 19%).
James Roberts, chief economist at Knight Frank, attributed the spike to a wave of new office-led estates at More London, Bankside and London Bridge Quarter, along with improved leisure and retail facilities such as the refurbished Borough Market and Southbank Centre.
The South Bank, which accounts for 6.6% of London office stock, has also become popular with the capital’s technology, media and telecoms occupiers, with 16% of office deals by TMT firms in London in the past four years completing there.
Roberts said the district could become London’s “front office location” if it continues to deliver new office stock.
Future office schemes in the district are expected to include Almacantar’s One and Two Southbank Place, recently purchased for £550m.
One Southbank Place is a proposed new office building, which has been fully prelet to energy giant Shell.
Two Southbank Place is a 292,000 sq ft office building with ground-floor retail overlooking the River Thames, due to be completed by the end of 2018.
