According to a new report from real estate services firm DTZ, average rents in Hong Kong dipped toward the end of 2012, while London’s West End continued to rise.
The two prestigious destinations rank high on any list of the world’s most expensive office space markets, but similar research in recent quarters has 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 office rental costs in the area vary considerably between 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 to pay the world’s highest rents to secure the office space they want, 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 firms that have recently moved to offices in the area without paying the same prices 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 at £177 per square foot, and London’s West End came in third at £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 hit its lowest post-pandemic office vacancy rate at 6.6 per cent, down from a 2023 peak of 8.8 per cent.
By comparison, office vacancy rates in New York’s Manhattan submarket have steadily increased 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) in partnership with the independent think tank Centre for London, also found that London ended 2024 with the highest volume of public transport journeys since the pandemic, with Tube ridership at 87 per cent.
Research by Savills found that London’s West End was the most expensive place to rent office space globally at the end of 2025, followed by Hong Kong’s Central district, New York’s Midtown district, and the City of London.
At the end of Q2 2026, average office rents across the West End district stood at £116.12 per square foot per annum, and prime rents were £180 per square foot.
West End prime office rents reached £195.00 per square foot in Q3 2026, up 15 per cent year-on-year.