Pre-lets accounted for around a third of the space acquired, highlighting the sustained demand for newer high-quality stock. In addition, Grade A space represented 92% of total take-up.

The active demand for space in Central London reached a new record high of 14.6m sq ft, 57% above the 10-year average. Occupiers remain optimistic about their future space requirements, with almost half (47%) seeking to increase their footprint. All new demand recorded in Q1 was from occupiers looking to expand.

Rents in the City also reached a new record of £160 per sq ft, taking the average prime rent in the City up to £130.80 which is 40% up on Q1 2025. West End prime rents remained stable year on year at £165 per sq ft.

In the investment market, turnover reached £1.79bn, down 37% on the five year average and 44% on the ten year average. However, there were 48 deals, up 3% on the short-term average and significantly ahead of Q1 2025 (42 deals), and there is £2.78bn of deals currently under offer across 52 assets, including eight over £100m, representing the highest amount of stock under offer for Q1 since 2022.

Philip Pearce, Executive Director of Savills Central London Agency team, says: “Momentum is continuing to build in the Central London office market, with more businesses looking to grow their space contributing to improved stats on last year. We’d expect to see more deals happening throughout the rest of the year as occupiers look to take high-quality space.”

Oliver Bamber, Director in the Savills Central London Investment team, says: “Although total turnover is down on the short and long-term averages, we’re optimistic that the relatively high deal count shows that there is still appetite for trades. With a high number of assets under offer, including some of the larger lot sizes, there are reasons to be cautiously positive for the rest of the year.”