South Bank Q3 office take-up is highest of the year

London’s South Bank office market hit its highest quarterly take-up of the year, totalling 142,600 sq ft – a 9.2% rise on the previous year, but still below the post-Covid average of 148,200 sq ft. According to agent USP’s quarterly report for the submarket, almost 60% of take-up during the quarter was for new or refurbished space, with the serviced office, tech and the retail sectors accounting for 57% of total leasing volume in the quarter. Q3’s standout deal was for 13,500 sq ft on the 12th floor of Native Land’s Arbor building in SE1, which went to maritime freight company Veson Nautical.  The report also found increasing bifurcation in the market during the quarter, as prime rents hit £75 per sq ft and super prime even more. Developers are looking to capitalise on rising rents in the submarket, where 1.89m sq ft of office space is currently under construction – almost 1m sq ft of which is due to complete by the end of 2025. Availability in the market rose by 4% to 8.3% as a result of the completion of developer Baring’s 146,000 sq ft TIDE building, SE1, taking the volume of new/refurbished space to its highest since 2013. See lettings in London SE1 >> Image © Native Land