NEWS·APRIL 2026
Central London office take-up reached 2.4 million sq ft in the first quarter of 2026, according to Colliers, with Grade A space accounting for 73% of all activity and pre-letting volumes setting fresh records.
The figures extend the momentum built through late 2025, when BP's 192,000 sq ft commitment at Timber Square and a string of major professional services deals pushed leasing to its strongest run since before the pandemic. West End pre-lets are now at record levels, with multiple buildings fully committed years ahead of completion.
The defining feature of this market is no longer demand, it is the absence of best in class supply. Almost nothing of scale started speculatively between 2023 and 2025, and the consequence is playing out in rents: prime City and West End rents continue to set new benchmarks, with incentives on the best space narrowing quarter by quarter.
Occupiers are responding in three ways. Committing earlier, with 2028 and 2029 requirements already in the market. Expanding their search geography, which is lifting fringe City, South Bank and midtown locations. And engaging with refurbishment options, which is creating a genuine investment case for well located secondary stock for the first time in this cycle.
For investors, leasing evidence of this strength is the foundation beneath the investment recovery. Rental growth in the best buildings now underwrites valuations that looked ambitious a year ago.
We expect take-up to remain above trend through 2026, with the pre-let market doing the heavy lifting until the development pipeline rebuilds.
NEWS·APRIL 2026
Central London office take-up reached 2.4 million sq ft in the first quarter of 2026, according to Colliers, with Grade A space accounting for 73% of all activity and pre-letting volumes setting fresh records.
The figures extend the momentum built through late 2025, when BP's 192,000 sq ft commitment at Timber Square and a string of major professional services deals pushed leasing to its strongest run since before the pandemic. West End pre-lets are now at record levels, with multiple buildings fully committed years ahead of completion.
The defining feature of this market is no longer demand, it is the absence of best in class supply. Almost nothing of scale started speculatively between 2023 and 2025, and the consequence is playing out in rents: prime City and West End rents continue to set new benchmarks, with incentives on the best space narrowing quarter by quarter.
Occupiers are responding in three ways. Committing earlier, with 2028 and 2029 requirements already in the market. Expanding their search geography, which is lifting fringe City, South Bank and midtown locations. And engaging with refurbishment options, which is creating a genuine investment case for well located secondary stock for the first time in this cycle.
For investors, leasing evidence of this strength is the foundation beneath the investment recovery. Rental growth in the best buildings now underwrites valuations that looked ambitious a year ago.
We expect take-up to remain above trend through 2026, with the pre-let market doing the heavy lifting until the development pipeline rebuilds.