And without one large dealt he figures would have been even worse: the pre-letting of nearly 750,000 sf to lawyers Allen & Overy at Bishop's Square in the City accounted for over 25% of the quarter's take-up
Nick Ridley, Senior Director, Central London offices at CB Hillier Parker, said: "Following all booms the first period of any downturn is characterised by optimists understating the degree of reduced tenant demand. This particular downturn has been running since the beginning of last year, from which point demand has been palpably weakening. In this context, the action now being taken by a wide range of landlords in offering premises at much reduced rents is broadly right in terms of the levels of demand we are seeing".
CB Hillier parker is now forecasting a full year take-up total of around 9.5 million sf for 2002, which would be over 15% below the ten year average. Recent rental movements reflect this, with City rents down by 10% so far this year and West End rents by 7.5%.
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