A raft of big-name companies behind some of London’s largest office prelets are already taking on more space, snapping up extra square footage through expansion options.
Researchers at Cushman & Wakefield said 15 of the 42 office prelets signed in London since 2020 included the option for the tenant to take on more space. More than half of those options have already been taken, the agency said.
They include law firm Linklaters, which signed for some 307,000 sq ft at 20 Ropemaker Place (pictured) in 2022 and last year upped that space by almost a fifth to more than 358,000 sq ft.
That extra space still means the law firm is downsizing on its former HQ. For others including BP and Addleshaw Goddard, however, the additional space taken through options has meant their new homes are larger than their old ones (see chart below).
“When agreeing leases in advance of upcoming lease events, occupiers are often unable to truly determine how their requirements may have shifted upon move-in dates, and the need for flexibility is increasingly a key requirement for those seeking space in the post-pandemic market,” said Heena Gadhavi, associate director in Cushman’s research team.
“Building in option space into lease negotiations has increasingly been seen as beneficial to the occupier and has come to the fore in recent years. Regardless of whether occupiers have been moving to premises that are larger or smaller than their previous office, option space has also played a role in adding to the overall space taken in relocations.”
Gadhavi added: “What is evident is that when option space is offered, very rarely is it not taken.”
Cushman’s analysis follows its London Moves report from earlier this year, in which it said that more occupiers chose to scale their office space up rather than down.
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