Bankside:
Market Synopsis

Office supply in Bankside has been on a rising trend for 12 months since reaching a reciprocal low point in the third quarter of 2008. Availability reached 680,000 sq ft at the end of quarter three, largely as a result of a rise in second hand space. Having said that, Southbank’s availability rate has remained historically low at only 5.5%, taking into account it’s 18.7 million square foot of stock. As with the forth quarter 2009, this remains the lowest vacancy rate of all the Central London Markets.

Take up in Bankside more than doubled during quarter three reaching 119,000 sq ft from 50,600 sq ft in quarter two 2009. The majority of space let was of newly completed quality, accounting for 63% of total take up. The largest deal was Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, which signed for 58,900 sq ft at the newly completed development, 75/79 York Road.

Office development continues to be very limited with only 3% of available stock forecast to become available to the market over the next two years. 90% of this space is scheduled for completion in the Shard, which will be the tallest mixed use tower in Europe, which has been partially pre-let to Transport for London, leaving just under 400,000 sq ft of speculative space remaining. The downward pressure on quoting rents has not been as significant for other properties of a similar nature and specification situated in more central locations; this is indicative of Southbank continuing to be an increasingly popular office location with consistent demand from both Media, City Support and professional firms.