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The hidden sorry state of the London office market

London office rents appear to have surviced a slump in demand byt the real picture isn't quite so rosy
September 19, 2022
  • 45 Walkie Talkies worth of empty space
  • Tenants demanding more from their landlords

The laws of supply and demand are simple. An abundance of supply means prices fall. In the post-Covid London office market, though, things do not appear as straightforward. 

According to data from real estate data company CoStar, the work-from-home boom means there is currently 31mn square feet of vacant office space in the capital – the equivalent of 45 Walkie Talkie buildings. The figure is the highest CoStar has seen since it started recording the data in 2005. Not even during the 2008 financial crash did CoStar record a greater amount of empty office space.

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