- One-fifth of Canary Wharf offices empty
- London too dependent on flexible space, say analysts
Shares in the UK's four biggest London office real estate investment trusts (Reits) – Landsec (LAND), British Land (BLND), Derwent London (DLN), and Great Portland Estates (GPE) – sank last week after analysts at Jefferies warned that the market faced a “rental recession” due to a three-decade low in London office occupancy.
Not everyone is so downbeat, however. Other market experts argue that the quartet will be rewarded for investing in their London buildings with higher rents and valuations in the long run. Office owners have largely seen rents remain stable even while valuations have fallen.