There were some nervous looks at
King Sturge's Warwick Street, W1 HQ this morning. Not from the presenters waiting to reveal the company's property predictions for 2010, as you might imagine, but more from those colleagues who'd made the journey in from the regions and who had half an eye on window looking for signs of snow.
But with the sky still clear the presenters plunged into the highlights of their
latest report and here are a few of the most interesting:
* The gap between London's office market and the rest of the country will widen as the capital experiences a bit of a recovery in rents this year while the regions will be slower to recover. This has to be tempered by the fact that London's rents declined 35-40% from peak to trough compared to 7-10% outside the capital
* Canary Wharf is picked out as the London's hotspot with office vacancy expected to fall into single figures this year
* Some speculative development will start in London this year as the supply pipeline diminishes
* Regional office rents are expected to fall further this year but not at the same rate as 2009. Bristol and Manchester are expected to lead the recovery after
2010.
* Birmingham and Leeds are highlighted as giving the most concern the reason being their oversupply of office space and reliance on the public sector
Naturally the Focus desk will be watching all of these cities to see if King Sturge's prediction ring true. (We are also watching the window for the first signs of snow.)
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