A limited number of new buildings have been developed over the past few years, but banking groups and other financial services firms were keen to expand in ‘the City’ and in the ‘West End’ during 2010, and the trend looks set to continue.
Knight Frank’s latest figures suggest that 6.4 million square feet of London office space was taken up by financial sector companies over the course of last year, representing a marked increase over both 2008 and 2009.
Indeed, it now appears that demand for office space in London is greater than it was before the credit crunch and the ensuing financial and economic problems that have afflicted the UK and European economies.
The commercial property firm behind the latest research is convinced that offices in central London and the West End will remain highly sought-after for a number of years, as numerous large-scale tenancy agreements are due for renewal, particularly in 2014 and 2015.
William Beardmore-Grey, head of City leasing at Knight Frank, told the Financial Times that the banking sector in London is recovering well but remains concerned about the possibility of stringent government regulation of their activities.
The scale of office space coming to the London market is limited at present, but several high-profile development efforts are underway, including the so-called Walkie Talkie tower in EC3, on which Land Securities and the Canary Wharf Group began construction last week.
Editor’s notes: In 2022, office space leasing volumes across Central London totalled 10.1 million square feet, which was 18 per cent more than the previous year but slightly below the 10-year average of 10.3 million square feet.
The leasing activity in Central London was dominated by the banking & financial services sector, which accounted for 27% of the total, reflecting 2.727 million square feet.
In 2022, 5.2 million square feet of space was taken up through leasing deals in the City. 12 per cent of that was leased by companies in the banking and financial services sector, representing 624,000 square feet.
In the West End in 2022, the annual office space take-up through lettings was 4.1 million square feet. Of that, the banking and financial services sector accounted for 44.3 per cent of the total, representing 1.816 million square feet.
Research conducted in June 2026 found that a total of 11.5 million square feet was taken up in Central London in 2025, up 5 per cent on the five-year average but down 9.8 per cent on the ten-year average.
The Banking & Finance sector accounted for 28 per cent of leasing activity in Central London in 2025.
In the City of London in 2025, total office space take-up reached 5.31 million square feet, representing a 0.95 per cent year-on-year increase.
Cushman & Wakefield reported that the Banking & Finance sector was responsible for 27 per cent of leasing activity in the City in 2025.
This was just ahead of the Professional Services sector at 26 per cent.
The total annual take-up in the West End for 2025 reached 2.55 million square feet, a 10.86 per cent decrease from the previous year.
The Banking & Finance sector remained the dominant sector in 2025, accounting for 32.40 per cent of leasing activity.
In Canary Wharf, annual take-up in 2025 was 1.10 million square feet, nearly triple 2024’s total.
In 2025, the Banking & Finance sector was responsible for 63.7 per cent of leasing activity, equating to approximately
700,000 square feet across just four deals. including Visa’s new headquarters deal at One Canada Square.