Banking take-up in the City drops by 69%

Banking take-up of office space in the City of London fell 69% over the past year in the wake of the current crisis in the financial industry, according to the latest European Banking Briefing report released by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W). The City's total office take-up figures are almost 40% lower over the year. The City submarket has seen the largest decline in rental levels, with the one-year rental change currently standing at -11.5%, with a 4.2% reduction seen over the last quarter.

However, banking take-up of offices across the whole of Europe has held firm despite the crisis, rising 2.2% over the year. This is in contrast to overall office take-up which has fallen by 13% in the 15 cities analysed by C&W. In total, some 538,000 m² of space was transacted by banks over the last six months.

Markets such as London (City and Docklands), Frankfurt and Amsterdam have been most affected by the current uncertainties, posting falling levels of banking take-up over the last six months. Paris (Ile-de-France) is continuing to perform well while Budapest, Barcelona and Prague saw an uplift in activity.