Year in review: London’s office market turns a corner

As 2021 drew to a close, EG looked back at a year of turbulence and opportunity for the capital, consulting experts from across the real estate industry for their thoughts on the year gone by and expectations for the London office market in 2022, including Rocket Properties’ Chairman Tom Appleton.

Tom Appleton, Chairman of Rocket Properties, commented: “Benefitting from 2020’s pent-up demand, 2021 has been a really active and quite interesting year. With the market having been stuck in a holding pattern, suddenly companies made a commitment to workspace and to London. For example, we’re now seeing large corporates (200,000 sq ft +) planning their moves much further in advance than previously was the case, inspired by their belief in the value of the office.

“This demand hasn’t just been for any old office though but has been focused hugely on premium buildings that meet Net Carbon Zero goals, something that we are targeting on the three large schemes we are currently progressing. This is not just because we are conscious of our environmental impact, but because commercially the tenants we are looking for have the same agenda that we do. The ESG movement transcends every part of the property industry, and it’s been a year of rapid evolution on this front.

“In 2022 I would like to see a continuation and stabilisation of what we’ve experienced this year. We’ve seen a huge amount of growth so far, but only compared to 2019 levels, so a return to a pre-pandemic norm would be very pleasing.”

The full article in EG can be read here: https://www.egi.co.uk/news/year-in-review-londons-office-market-turns-a-corner/