- A record 339 office leasing deals recorded in the City in 2024
- A total of 531 office deals across Central London 2024
- Occupiers seeking out more, better and centrally located space
- The average relocation within Central London was just 0.7 miles in 2024 - the lowest distance on record
- Occupiers increased floorspace by 38%, net market growth of 3.27 million sq ft
London, 24 April 2025 – The City of London set a new record for office leasing deals in a calendar year with 339 transactions over 5,000 sq ft in 2024, according to a comprehensive analysis of office relocation trends by Cushman & Wakefield.
The total surpassed the previous high of 331 – achieved in 2015, 2018 and 2023 – as occupiers doubled down on the City as their most popular choice for office accommodation in Central London, accounting for 64% of the overall transaction volume. The new record is one of several revealed in Cushman & Wakefield’s annual London Moves report which analyses every office leasing transaction over 5,000 sq ft in Central London, dissecting the data by relocation type, submarket, business sector and size.
Robust Overall Volumes
Overall, 531 deals took place – totalling 9.7 million sq ft of office space – across Central London, only slightly down on the prior year (545) and 3% above the 10-year average. While most (451) were in the 5,000 - 25,000 sq ft bracket, at the larger end there were eight deals over 100,000 sq ft. Of these, seven involved occupiers increasing their footprint resulting in a net expansion of 668,000 sq ft, the largest since 2018, and indicating an uptick in confidence in the role of office space since the pandemic. Three clear themes emerged from the analysis:
Theme 1: Focus On The Core
The 339 deals in the City was 17% higher than the 10-year average as occupiers focused their attention on high-amenity, highly connected central core markets. The big winner at a submarket level was the ‘City Core’ – the central of the 6 submarkets comprising the wider City market – which in 2024 claimed 37% of all Central London leasing deals by count.
The wider City demonstrated its appeal in other ways too. It attracted most new market entrants, comprising both newly-established businesses as well as companies taking space in London for the first time, with 23 of the 45 across Central London. At the same time, existing City occupiers moving from one office to another showed a clear preference for remaining within the City. The 177 ‘market stayers’ (occupiers moving within their existing market) was another record – 4% up on the previous record and some 30% above the 10-year average.
The West End also continued to attract significant interest, though slightly down on 2023 (-4%), with 183 office leasing transactions. These included 19 new market entrants and 89 relocations within the market.
Ben Cullen, Head of UK Offices at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “The City triumphs as the most attractive location in London for office space right now. Its supply of top quality space, access to amenity and unrivalled connectivity works for people across the workforce and as such there is intense competition for space. Supply shortages emerging across the core West End markets have constrained transactions to a degree, but nonetheless occupiers continue to be keenly focused in these locations. As a result, rents have pushed to new highs and are expected to continue to rise further.”
Theme 2: Local Loyalty
“Prior to the pandemic, Central London office transactions had a broad distribution with hotspots of activity in the City and West End, but also in Canary Wharf, Hammersmith and in peripheral submarkets,” said Kiran Patel, Head of London Offices Research at Cushman & Wakefield. Today, the flight to centrality for investors, occupiers and developers alike is clearly visible. We are witnessing activity shrinking away from the edge and clustering around core locations and thus concentrating areas of strong rental prospects and declining vacancy rates.”
For the first time since Cushman & Wakefield began tracking relocation trends in 2013 there were more ‘submarket stayers’ (occupiers moving within their existing submarket, 165) than ‘relocators’ (occupiers moving to a new submarket, 142) in terms of both count and quantum, amounting to 54% of the overall deal count and 60% of the total floorspace leased respectively, indicating a strong sense of loyalty amongst occupiers. Once again, the City triumphed with 94% of wider City relocators remaining within the market, the highest proportion on record.
Furthermore, across 306 deals where occupiers moved locations, the average distance from their former to their new office was just 0.7 miles – a record low – indicating a strong preference for staying close to established hubs. The majority (185) moved under 0.5 miles – equivalent to the distance from London Bridge to Tower Bridge. Just 60 occupiers moved more than 1 mile in 2024, the second lowest figure on record, behind only 2020.
Theme 3: More AND Better…
Across Central London, of the 408 established occupiers, 78% expanded on their prior accommodation, equating to total expansion of 4.1 million sq ft across 320 deals. A further 88 occupiers reduced their space through relocation, resulting in an overall expansionary market of 3.27 million sq ft in 2024, well ahead of the 1.86 million sq ft recorded in 2023 and the highest net expansion figure since 2019.
Comparing their new to former office space, occupiers in 2024 increased their floorspace by an average of 38% - the highest figure since 2018. With 65% of office space leased in 2024 being of Grade A quality (the second highest share on record, behind only 2023), there is also a clear trend of occupiers seeking out the best space and taking more of it.
Cullen said: “It was common to hear ‘less but better’ cited as the direction of travel for office occupiers in 2024, but the majority expanded on their former space. The increased focus on the best buildings is true, and companies are paying ever higher rents and business rates to secure it. This has forced occupiers to carefully consider the value offices provide to their business and staff and the evidence strongly points to the perceived return on investment.”
Strong rental growth was recorded across Central London in 2024, particularly in central locations, reaching 12% in the City Core and 9% in Mayfair & St James’s. Comparing headline rents at the start of the new lease with that of start of the former lease, across the top 10 largest office transactions in 2024 there was an average increase of 73% in total rent liabilities on an annualised basis (excluding rent reviews).
