Over the past few years, Southwark has experience a real growth in popularity and naturally, along with that rents have gone up quite considerably, as they are doing all around London. The percentage increase in Southwark is higher than most of the other submarkets in Central London.
One of the main reasons for this has been the redevelopment around London Bridge tube station with huge office complex’s such as ‘More London’ and the Shard being finished there is a real feeling of regeneration in the area, with a lot of occupiers deciding to make the move over to the South side of the river from offices in the City. Rents in these prime offices around London Bridge range from £50-£75 per sq. ft. in the upper floors of the Shard.
The great thing about the Southwark office market it that it attracts a diverse mix of companies. In most other Central London office sub-markets there is a clear stereo typical distinction between where different types of companies will go to. For example Finance in the City, Lawyers in Mid-town, TMT in Soho /Covent Garden, Hedge Funds in Mayfair, Tech start-ups in Shoreditch. Where as in Southwark all these different types of occupiers are found, Morgan Pryce even negotiated for a Hedge Fund on a new building on Southwark Street.
The TMT sector love it because when you delve into areas like Shad Thames and Bermondsey Street you find the gorgeous converted warehouse buildings as well as really cool bars and restaurant with the Borough Market being the centre of all this. The finance world are opening up to it as it provides fantastic connections to the City and the West End but rents are that bit more competitive.
The only problem we are having is that with that with the huge pickup in demand, it is becoming more and more difficult to find available space. Having an agent to find quality space is key in this area as quality offices do not hang around. Morgan Pryce was in the top 5 acquisition agents in the area last year and is looking even stronger this year.
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.
