Demand for office space in central London was above the long-term average in the third quarter of the year despite the Brexit vote, according to Knight Frank.
The agency said the referendum was a “road bump” as tech sector occupiers drove demand, with Spotify, Expedia and Deliveroo all seeking office space.
Investment in central London totalled £2.29bn in Q3, down by a third on the same period in 2015. Knight Frank said that was down to a lack of available stock as owners were unwilling to sell amid Brexit uncertainty.
Between June and September searches for office space exceeded 9.5m sq ft, ahead of the long-term average of 7.9m sq ft.
Apple’s deal to take 500,000 sq ft at Battersea Power Station, SW8, buoyed the take-up figures in central London, with 2.7m sq ft taken in Q3, an increase of 15% on the three months before.
James Roberts, chief economist at Knight Frank, said: “Over the past five years London has been re-weighting its economy away from finance and towards technology and innovation, which will pay dividends as we move towards Brexit.
“Given the big tech names currently looking for office space in London, and the huge deal last month from Apple, it is apparent that Brexit has had little more than a road bump effect on the capital’s burgeoning technology sector.”
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