According to a new report on the subject 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 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 to have moved to offices in the area recently without paying the same sort of prices as those being asked for in Mayfair.
Editors 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 2nd achieving £177 per square foot and London’s West End district came in 3rd after achieving £147 per square foot.
London’s West End does still retain the record for the highest office rent ever paid for an office after a private family office agreed to pay £277.50 per square foot per year for an office at 30 Berkeley Square in 2020.