The vacancy rate in the City of London has reached its lowest point in 10 years, claims Insignia Richard Ellis research.
The surveyor’s second-quarter report for central London shows City availability has plummeted to 241,540m2 (2.6m sq ft), a vacancy rate of 2.5%.
The City saw take-up rise to 170,936m2 (1.84m sq ft) for the second quarter, with take-up for the first six months of 2000 reaching 278,700m2 (3m sq ft).
An additional 255,475m2 (2.75m sq ft) is under offer and IRE predicts take-up for the year will exceed 464,500m2 (5m sq ft), compared with 371,600m2 (4m sq ft) last year.
Roger Lister, head of city agency at Insignia Richard Ellis, said: “The market is really hot at the moment, and this is putting ever-increasing pressure on top rents. Already this week, three deals have achieved £55 per sq ft.”
In the West End, supply remains at a historically low level with only 241,540m2 (2.6m sq ft) on the market at the end of June.
