The City of London is finally gaining some confidence in the rental market as Reply, Total Jobs and International Power lead the way for medium size tenants acquiring office space in the City. Between the three of them, they have begun searching for a total of circa 100,000 sq. ft. within the square mile as they search to find their new Headquarters in London. In recent month’s confidence in the City has been extremely low as many of the larger tenants look to wait for the skyscrapers to complete before they move into the new developments, which has led to the medium and smaller sized tenants holding off their moves. However, it now seems the confidence has grown enough for tenants to start searching for new space with the 20,000 – 50,000 sq. ft. bracket leading the way.

The City is renowned for experiencing peaks and troughs in the rental market and over the last 6 months the City has been experiencing one of its troughs. Due to the new developments and large skyscrapers filling the City skyline, there has been a surplus amount of supply with very little demand which has led to landlords giving away up to a year’s rent free on a straight five year term. A good example of this is Salisbury house where Morgan Pryce recently acquired office space in one of the newly refurbished suites. After long negotiations Morgan Pryce managed to agree, on behalf of a technology firm, a straight 5 year term with one year’s rent free. Unfortunately just before solicitors were instructed another party entered the mix and we finally agreed terms at 8 months’ rent free, which really indicates how much rent free landlords were willing to give away to agree terms in these ‘tougher’ times.

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.