A grim year that saw office occupiers stall in their decision making both before and after the referendum was nevertheless rounded out by a considerably more optimistic fourth quarter, with take-up back in the regions of long-term trend.
CBRE was clearly the agent best placed to take advantage of this, dominating overall take-up levels with more than double that of JLL in second place, and coming top in four of the six sub markets.
It disposed of 1,731,938 sq ft of space during the quarter, an incredible 44% of market share, and acted on the two largest disposals, the sub-let by Barclays of 536,000 sq ft to the Government Property Unit at 10 South Colonnade, E14, and the 183,000 sq ft letting of Bracken House, EC4, to the Financial Times.
Total Q4 take-up across the London office markets was 3.5m sq ft, 16% down on Q4 2015, but still up by 62% on Q3.
“By Q4, we were expecting a better quarter but it certainly surpassed our expectations. I think that can be attributed in part to economic performance in Q3 being quite strong,” says Ben Burston, director of UK offices research at JLL.
Dan Bayley, head of central London agency at BNP Paribas Real Estate, says: “All told it was unspectacular, but in terms of direction of travel – particularly with the Trump surprise – the fact that Q4 was strong and some of the biggest lettings have come from major North American organisations, it is a good shot in the arm for London.”
Within this, however, there was also huge variation between the submarkets. City take-up was up by 33.4% on Q4 2015, boosted by deals like Bracken House, EC4, and the 109,050 sq ft letting at 20 Old Bailey, EC4, to Barings Capital.
But in the West End, take-up was 59% down on Q4 2015 and there were no deals above 35,000 sq ft, though it is worth noting that Q4 2015 take-up was incredibly strong and well above trend.
Part of the reason for lower West End take-up, according to David Hanrahan, director and co-head of London offices at Colliers International, is a lack of supply coming through.
In the Docklands, the South Colonnade letting pushed take-up to more than double Q4 2015.
All of which left agents in a, relatively, good mood for 2017. “Take-up certainly won’t exceed 2016, but neither will it be a car crash,” says Savills executive director of central London, Philip Pearce.
Top agents
LONDON’S 2016 Q4 LEAGUE TABLE
Position |
Agency |
Disposed (sq ft) |
No of deals |
1 |
CBRE |
1,731,938 |
79 |
| 2 | JLL | 768,125 | 39 |
| 3 | Cushman & Wakefield | 647,735 | 51 |
| 4 | Savills | 576,684 | 31 |
| 5 | Colliers International | 404,534 | 59 |
| 6 | Knight Frank | 266,264 | 24 |
| 7 | BNP Paribas Real Estate | 168,607 | 12 |
| 8 | Union Street Partners | 162,798 | 9 |
| 9 | Ingleby Trice | 133,946 | 7 |
| 10 | GM Real Estate | 133,147 | 8 |
| 11 | Strutt & Parker | 116,138 | 21 |
| 12 | Tuckerman | 82,099 | 14 |
| 13 | Allsop | 80,791 | 11 |
| 14 | GVA | 78,385 | 9 |
| 15 | Edward Charles & Partners | 75,050 | 13 |
| 16 | Ashwell Rogers | 56,902 | 9 |
| 17 | Farebrother | 52,622 | 15 |
| 18 | Hall Kemp | 49,338 | 11 |
| 19 | Newton Perkins | 46,186 | 13 |
| 20 | Richard Susskind & Co | 46,085 | 9 |
| 21 | Monmouth Dean | 39,676 | 14 |
| 22 | Frost Meadowcroft | 39,489 | 10 |
| 23 | Anton Page | 38,536 | 17 |
| 24 | Bluebook | 35,207 | 8 |
| 25 | Hanover Green | 32,310 | 9 |
| 26 | HNG | 24,281 | 5 |
| 27 | Kinney Green | 23,865 | 2 |
| 28 | James Andrew International | 23,726 | 3 |
| 29 | Stirling Ackroyd | 21,797 | 10 |
| 30 | Levy | 17,504 | 7 |
| 31 | Gerald Eve | 17,397 | 5 |
| 32 | HMC Surveyors | 16,198 | 2 |
| 33 | BDG Sparkes Porter | 16,185 | 8 |
| 34 | Pilcher Hershman | 15,587 | 2 |
| 35 | Strettons | 15,353 | 5 |
| 36 | BBG Real Estate Advisers | 13,905 | 4 |
| 37 | Cluttons | 13,240 | 1 |
| 38 | Jarvis Keller Stephens | 11,246 | 1 |
| 39 | Crossland Otter Hunt | 11,046 | 5 |
| 40 | GN2 | 11,036 | 3 |
| 41 | Dron & Wright | 10,948 | 5 |
| 42 | Gryphon Property Partners | 10,598 | 2 |
| 43 | Metrus | 10,110 | 3 |
| 44 | Cherryman | 9,390 | 5 |
| 45 | DeVono Cresa | 9,086 | 2 |
| 46 | Matthews & Goodman | 8,114 | 3 |
| 47 | Capital Real Estate Partners | 7,600 | 1 |
| 48 | Dominion Commercial Property Agents | 6,738 | 1 |
| 49 | Elsworth | 5,900 | 1 |
| 50 | Feiner deSmith | 5,413 | 3 |
| 51 | Glinsman Weller | 4,911 | 3 |
| 52 | Christo & Co | 4,500 | 1 |
| 53 | Michael Boardman & Associates | 4,390 | 1 |
| 54 | Howard de Walden Estates | 4,059 | 1 |
| 55 | Savoy Stewart | 4,012 | 1 |
| 56 | Lorenz Consultancy (The) | 3,805 | 2 |
| 57 | Hartnell Taylor Cook | 3,684 | 2 |
| 58 | Mellersh & Harding | 3,582 | 2 |
| 59 | Spring4 | 3,250 | 1 |
| 60 | Fletcher King | 3,207 | 1 |
| 61 | Philip Wragg & Partners | 3,014 | 1 |
| 62 | Boston Gilmore | 2,760 | 1 |
| 63 | Miles Commercial | 2,395 | 1 |
| 64 | Kalmars | 2,327 | 1 |
| 65 | White Druce & Brown | 2,219 | 1 |
| 66 | Harper Dennis Hobbs | 2,206 | 1 |
| 67 | Simon Korn Commercial Property Agents | 2,015 | 1 |
| 68 | Thompson Yates | 1,451 | 1 |
| 69 | Robert Irving Burns | 1,315 | 1 |
| 70 | Koopmans | 1,301 | 1 |
| 71 | Krystal Estates | 1,250 | 1 |
| 72 | Currell Commercial | 1,214 | 1 |
| 73 | Paul Belchak & Company | 1,214 | 1 |
London’s top Q4 agents by submarket
View Pictures/REX/Shutterstock
CITY CORE
Position |
Agency |
Disposed (sq ft) |
No of deals |
Market total (sq ft) |
Share |
1 |
CBRE |
646,333 |
23 |
1,278,243.48 |
51% |
| 2 | JLL | 399,236 | 15 | 1,278,243.48 | 31% |
| 3 | Cushman & Wakefield | 315,595 | 23 | 1,278,243.48 | 25% |
| 4 | Savills | 261,829 | 14 | 1,278,243.48 | 20% |
| 5 | BNP Paribas Real Estate | 147,079 | 7 | 1,278,243.48 | 12% |
| 6 | Knight Frank | 87,169 | 9 | 1,278,243.48 | 7% |
| 7 | Ingleby Trice | 57,414 | 3 | 1,278,243.48 | 4% |
| 8 | GM Real Estate | 54,008 | 2 | 1,278,243.48 | 4% |
| 9 | Newton Perkins | 46,186 | 13 | 1,278,243.48 | 4% |
| 10 | Allsop | 27,836 | 2 | 1,278,243.48 | 2% |
| 11 | Hall Kemp | 22,219 | 6 | 1,278,243.48 | 2% |
| 12 | Strutt & Parker | 21,124 | 5 | 1,278,243.48 | 2% |
| 13 | James Andrew Int | 19,569 | 2 | 1,278,243.48 | 2% |
| 14 | Kinney Green | 19,000 | 1 | 1,278,243.48 | 1% |
| 15 | GVA | 15,162 | 2 | 1,278,243.48 | 1% |
| 16 | BBG Real Estate Advisers | 12,535 | 3 | 1,278,243.48 | 1% |
| 17 | Colliers International | 9,039 | 3 | 1,278,243.48 | 1% |
| 18 | Matthews & Goodman | 8,114 | 3 | 1,278,243.48 | 1% |
| 19 | Gryphon Property Partners | 7,538 | 1 | 1,278,243.48 | 1% |
| 20 | Monmouth Dean | 7,053 | 3 | 1,278,243.48 | 1% |
| 21 | DeVono Cresa | 5,100 | 1 | 1,278,243.48 | 0% |
| 22 | Anton Page | 4,415 | 1 | 1,278,243.48 | 0% |
| 23 | Hartnell Taylor Cook | 3,684 | 2 | 1,278,243.48 | 0% |
| 24 | Spring4 | 3,250 | 1 | 1,278,243.48 | 0% |
| 25 | White Druce & Brown | 2,219 | 1 | 1,278,243.48 | 0% |
| 26 | Stirling Ackroyd | 1,441 | 1 | 1,278,243.48 | 0% |
Ethel Davies/robertharding/REX/Shutterstock
CITY FRINGE
Position |
Agency |
Disposed (sq ft) |
No of deals |
Market total (sq ft) |
Share |
1 |
Colliers International |
240,497.56 |
33 |
462,355.47 |
52% |
| 2 | Cushman & Wakefield | 115,361 | 8 | 462,355.47 | 25% |
| 3 | JLL | 102,800 | 3 | 462,355.47 | 22% |
| 4 | Savills | 96,260 | 5 | 462,355.47 | 21% |
| 5 | Ingleby Trice | 76,532 | 4 | 462,355.47 | 17% |
| 6 | GM Real Estate | 56,084 | 2 | 462,355.47 | 12% |
| 7 | CBRE | 46,304 | 2 | 462,355.47 | 10% |
| 8 | Richard Susskind & Co | 46,084.90 | 9 | 462,355.47 | 10% |
| 9 | Allsop | 34,822 | 2 | 462,355.47 | 8% |
| 10 | Anton Page | 34,121 | 16 | 462,355.47 | 7% |
| 11 | Ashwell Rogers | 28,000 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 6% |
| 12 | Hall Kemp | 27,119 | 5 | 462,355.47 | 6% |
| 13 | Stirling Ackroyd | 20,356 | 9 | 462,355.47 | 4% |
| 14 | Knight Frank | 19,719 | 2 | 462,355.47 | 4% |
| 15 | Pilcher Hershman | 15,587 | 2 | 462,355.47 | 3% |
| 16 | BNP Paribas Real Estate | 12,062 | 4 | 462,355.47 | 3% |
| 17 | Jarvis Keller Stephens | 11,246 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 2% |
| 18 | Dron & Wright | 7,771 | 3 | 462,355.47 | 2% |
| 19 | Monmouth Dean | 7,632 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 2% |
| 20 | Farebrother | 7,632 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 2% |
| 21 | Strettons | 7,054 | 4 | 462,355.47 | 2% |
| 22 | Dominion Commercial Property Agents | 6,738 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 1% |
| 23 | GVA | 6,573 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 1% |
| 24 | Feiner deSmith | 5,413 | 3 | 462,355.47 | 1% |
| 25 | Edward Charles & Partners | 5,204 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 1% |
| 26 | James Andrew International | 4,157 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 1% |
| 27 | Thompson Yates | 1,451 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 0% |
| 28 | BBG Real Estate Advisers | 1,370 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 0% |
| 29 | Robert Irving Burns | 1,315 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 0% |
| 30 | Krystal Estates | 1,250 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 0% |
| 31 | Paul Belchak & Company | 1,214 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 0% |
| 32 | Currell Commercial | 1,214 | 1 | 462,355.47 | 0% |
Design Pics Inc/REX/Shutterstock
DOCKLANDS
Position |
Agency |
Disposed (sq ft) |
No of deals |
Market total (sq ft) |
Share |
1 |
CBRE |
581,493 |
5 |
631,808.50 |
92% |
| 2 | Knight Frank | 37,058 | 1 | 631,808.50 | 6% |
| 3 | GM Real Estate | 23,055 | 4 | 631,808.50 | 4% |
| 4 | Cushman & Wakefield | 21,893 | 3 | 631,808.50 | 3% |
| 5 | Cherryman | 9,390 | 5 | 631,808.50 | 1% |
| 6 | JLL | 9,055 | 3 | 631,808.50 | 1% |
| 7 | Strutt & Parker | 4,015 | 1 | 631,808.50 | 1% |
| 8 | Dron & Wright | 3,177 | 2 | 631,808.50 | 1% |
Ray Tang/REX/Shutterstock
MIDTOWN
Position |
Agency |
Disposed (sq ft) |
No of deals |
Market total (sq ft) |
Share |
1 |
CBRE |
172,875 |
15 |
398,802.09 |
43% |
| 2 | Savills | 143,133 | 6 | 398,802.09 | 36% |
| 3 | JLL | 85,052 | 4 | 398,802.09 | 21% |
| 4 | Knight Frank | 50,255 | 3 | 398,802.09 | 13% |
| 5 | Cushman & Wakefield | 50,255 | 3 | 398,802.09 | 13% |
| 6 | Farebrother | 44,990 | 14 | 398,802.09 | 11% |
| 7 | Colliers International | 20,013 | 4 | 398,802.09 | 5% |
| 8 | Edward Charles & Partners | 16,503 | 5 | 398,802.09 | 4% |
| 9 | Bluebook | 14,301 | 3 | 398,802.09 | 4% |
| 10 | Allsop | 13,346 | 5 | 398,802.09 | 3% |
| 11 | Gerald Eve | 10,453 | 2 | 398,802.09 | 3% |
| 12 | HNG | 7,883 | 1 | 398,802.09 | 2% |
| 13 | Hanover Green | 5,930 | 2 | 398,802.09 | 1% |
| 14 | BDG Sparkes Porter | 5,553 | 1 | 398,802.09 | 1% |
| 15 | Michael Boardman & Associates | 4,390 | 1 | 398,802.09 | 1% |
| 16 | Levy | 3,538 | 3 | 398,802.09 | 1% |
| 17 | Fletcher King | 3,207 | 1 | 398,802.09 | 1% |
| 18 | Monmouth Dean | 2,117.09 | 2 | 398,802.09 | 1% |
| 19 | Tuckerman | 1,065 | 1 | 398,802.09 | 0% |
Matt Frost/robertharding/REX/Shutterstock
WEST END
Position |
Agency |
Disposed (sq ft) |
No of deals |
Market total (sq ft) |
Share |
1 |
CBRE |
188,727 |
28 |
667,391.56 |
28% |
| 2 | Colliers International | 107,442.34 | 14 | 667,391.56 | 16% |
| 3 | JLL | 104,249 | 9 | 667,391.56 | 16% |
| 4 | Tuckerman | 81,034.38 | 13 | 667,391.56 | 12% |
| 5 | Strutt & Parker | 78,465.38 | 13 | 667,391.56 | 12% |
| 6 | GVA | 56,650 | 6 | 667,391.56 | 8% |
| 7 | Cushman & Wakefield | 50,352 | 9 | 667,391.56 | 8% |
| 8 | Edward Charles & Partners | 46,737 | 5 | 667,391.56 | 7% |
| 9 | Knight Frank | 29,141 | 7 | 667,391.56 | 4% |
| 10 | Ashwell Rogers | 28,902.15 | 8 | 667,391.56 | 4% |
| 11 | Monmouth Dean | 22,874 | 8 | 667,391.56 | 3% |
| 12 | HMC Surveyors | 16,198 | 2 | 667,391.56 | 2% |
| 13 | Bluebook | 14,341 | 4 | 667,391.56 | 2% |
| 14 | Cluttons | 13,240 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 2% |
| 15 | Savills | 12,913 | 4 | 667,391.56 | 2% |
| 16 | Levy | 11,674 | 3 | 667,391.56 | 2% |
| 17 | Crossland Otter Hunt | 11,045.82 | 5 | 667,391.56 | 2% |
| 18 | GN2 | 11,036 | 3 | 667,391.56 | 2% |
| 19 | BDG Sparkes Porter | 10,632.26 | 7 | 667,391.56 | 2% |
| 20 | Capital Real Estate Partners | 7,600 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 21 | Gerald Eve | 6,943.60 | 3 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 22 | Elsworth | 5,900 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 23 | Metrus | 5,610 | 2 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 24 | Glinsman Weller | 4,911 | 3 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 25 | Howard de Walden Estates | 4,059 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 26 | BNP Paribas Real Estate | 4,059 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 27 | Savoy Stewart | 4,012 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 28 | DeVono Cresa | 3,986 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 29 | Lorenz Consultancy (The) | 3,805 | 2 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 30 | Mellersh & Harding | 3,582 | 2 | 667,391.56 | 1% |
| 31 | Philip Wragg & Partners | 3,014 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 0% |
| 32 | Hanover Green | 2,419 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 0% |
| 33 | Miles Commercial | 2,395 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 0% |
| 34 | Harper Dennis Hobbs | 2,206 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 0% |
| 35 | Allsop | 2,027 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 0% |
| 36 | Simon Korn Commercial Property Agents | 2,015 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 0% |
| 37 | Koopmans | 1,301 | 1 | 667,391.56 | 0% |
Vickie Flores/LNP/REX/Shutterstock
SOUTHERN FRINGE
Position |
Agency |
Disposed (sq ft) |
No of deals |
Market total (sq ft) |
Share |
1 |
Union Street Partners |
157,390 |
8 |
324,190 |
49% |
| 2 | Cushman & Wakefield | 90,024 | 4 | 324,190 | 28% |
| 3 | CBRE | 84,423 | 3 | 324,190 | 26% |
| 4 | JLL | 49,146 | 3 | 324,190 | 15% |
| 5 | Knight Frank | 38,667 | 1 | 324,190 | 12% |
| 6 | Colliers International | 12,477 | 3 | 324,190 | 4% |
| 7 | Hanover Green | 4,029 | 2 | 324,190 | 1% |
| 8 | Kalmars | 2,327 | 1 | 324,190 | 1% |
| 9 | Levy | 2,292 | 1 | 324,190 | 1% |
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LONDON OFFICES MARKET ANALYSIS Q4 2016
• Analysis – offices drop by 25% but rate of descent slows
• Who is London’s top office agent?
• London offices breakdown by submarket
• London office investment down by 25% in 2016
• Who is London’s top Q4 agent?
• Four things you need to know about the London offices market
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