West End Leasing
On the face of it Q3 2025 looks marginally disappointing from a take up perspective in the West End Office market. The amount of space let at 752,000 sq ft shows a 12% decline on Q2 and is some 38% behind the 10 year long term average. These slightly muted figures can predominantly be explained by the lack of large deals, with no transactions above 50,000 sq ft taking place.
Headline Allsop Deals
The deals undertaken by the Allsop team in Q3 are strongly exhibiting one of the main themes we are seeing – market strength at either end of the value spectrum.
The strength at the premium end of the market has been well documented and the team were delighted to act on behalf of STARS/Trinova at 103 Mount Street, W1 where the 2nd floor comprising 4,100 sq ft was let to a private equity business. In addition, the 4th floor is currently under offer. We are quoting a rent equating to £175.00 per sq ft in the building. With low vacancy and consistent demand, the core Mayfair & St. James’s submarkets continue to out-perform.
Perhaps less publicity has been given to the increasing levels of demand occurring at the value end of the office market. We have been pleased to see leasing activity in fringe markets such as Camden. There has been a handful of lettings undertaken on behalf of Workspace at Centro, N1 totalling 15,000 sq ft and further deals currently under offer.
103 Mount Street, W1
Headline Market Deals
The largest transaction to occur in Q3 was the pre-let of the 5th & 6th floors at The Elephant, 318 Oxford Street, W1 (formerly the House of Fraser department store) comprising 49,601 sq ft to General Atlantic at a rumoured rent equating to £165.00 per sq ft. An example of a leading core Mayfair occupier relocating to a different submarket (albeit the line between Mayfair and Marylebone continues to blur as a result of these high-quality Oxford Street redevelopments).
A more dramatic example of an occupier moving to a new area is Sarasin & Partners leaving EC4 to relocate to 50 George Street, W1 where they have secured the entire 32,651 sq ft self-contained former HQ of Colliers, recently refurbished to an exceptional standard by Loftus Family Property.
However, on some occasions proximity is key and none more so than UCL securing 39,000 sq ft at Maple, 149 Tottenham Court Road, W1 from Lazari. The University committed to the 3rd to 5th floors on confidential terms to further expand near its main campus.
The Elephant, 318 Oxford Street, W1
What is the Direction of Travel?
We anticipate continued strong demand for high quality space in prime central locations, which combined with limited supply will continue to increase the average prime rent (up 11% from the same point last year). This demand will continue to be driven by the Financial Services and Tech/Media sectors who accounted for 50% of all space taken across Q3 2025.
However, we also will continue to monitor increasing demand for more economical office space from occupiers seeking value, looking to keep down their total occupational costs at a time when some sectors are having to tighten purse strings. Charity, Retail, Leisure and Educational sectors will be at the forefront of this demand.
