London office requirements have hit the highest level for 10 years, with companies on the hunt for close to 12m sq ft of new office space, according to Knight Frank.
This figure represents a 34% increase compared with last year, with 80% of these firms intending to upsize or match their office footprint in the UK capital.
Some 40 of those requirements involve a company seeking in excess of 50,000 sq ft of new office space.
Overall, KF registered a net increase of 1.1m sq ft in the amount of space occupiers have leased compared with their previous occupancy.
Total office take-up for 2023 finished at 10.7m sq ft, according to KF’s figures, a 12% decline on the long-term average of 12m sq ft. The last three months recorded 3.9m sq ft of leasing transactions, representing the strongest quarterly take-up volume for five years. New and refurbished take-up was 2.6m sq ft and represented the largest level of prime take-up since 2004.
Exclusive figures from EG Radius – which collects data from active agents across the UK – last week revealed how a final flurry in Q4 had helped London end the year with bang, with the City seeing almost a doubling of take-up compared with the same period in Q4 2022.
London skyline © Amer Ghazzal/Shutterstock
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