According to a new report from the real estate services firm DTZ, average rents in Hong Kong dipped towards the end of 2012 while continuing to increase in London’s West End.
The two prestigious destinations are reliably high up in any list of the world’s most expensive office space market but similar research reports in recent quarters have put Hong Kong ahead of both the West End and the City of London.
DTZ’s figures suggest that renting a single workstation within a West End office costs, on average, £15,000 per annum. However, the company’s new report also noted that the cost of renting offices in the area varies considerably between particular sub-districts.
“These figures are a tangible reflection of the fact that London is a highly attractive place to locate a business,” said Richard Howard from DTZ.
“It should be observed, however, that the West End alone has many different characteristics and price points, and there are areas of the West End that can be occupied at a marked discount to prime Mayfair rents.”
Howard pointed out that while financial companies are apparently happy enough to pay the world’s highest rents to secure the office space they’re after, a string of high-profile businesses have lined up less expensive space elsewhere in the West End. He singled out Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn as tech-based firms that have moved to offices in the area recently without paying the same sort of prices as those being asked for in Mayfair.
Editor’s Notes: In 2023, research showed that the Central District of Hong Kong achieved the most expensive office space in the world in 2022 at £209 per square foot per year.
Midtown Manhattan came in second, achieving £177 per square foot, and London’s West End district came in third, achieving £147 per square foot.
London’s West End still retains the record for the highest office rent ever paid after a private family office agreed to pay £277.50 per square foot per year for an office at 30 Berkeley Square in 2020.
In March 2025, the London Property Alliance (LPA) reported that the central London office market had outperformed its global rivals in Berlin, Hong Kong, Paris, and New York, following a decline in availability that drove record rental highs in 2024.
London outperformed its global rivals, including New York, Paris, Berlin, and Hong Kong, across a range of metrics. Notably, it achieved the lowest office vacancy rate at 6.6 per cent, its lowest post-pandemic level, following a peak of 8.8 per cent in 2023.
In comparison, office vacancy rates in New York’s Manhattan submarket have continued to steadily increase from 11 per cent five years ago to 23 per cent. Hong Kong’s office vacancy levels have also more than doubled over the same period, currently sitting at 16 per cent, with Berlin (10 per cent) and Paris (7 per cent) faring better.
The Global Cities Survey, published by the London Property Alliance (LPA) and produced in partnership with the independent think tank Centre for London, also revealed that London ended 2024 with the highest volume of public transport journeys since the pandemic, with Tube ridership reaching 87 per cent.