Derwent reaps £11m rent on London offices
DERWENT London said yesterday that it has secured 23 per cent more rent this year so far than it achieved for the whole of 2014, as appetite for office space in central London continued unabated.
The FTSE 250 developer, which owns the Tea Building in Shoreditch and Burberry’s offices at Horseferry House in Victoria, has let 225,400 square feet in the year to April securing £11.3m of rents per year.
As a result, vacancy rates have fallen to 1.9 per cent from 4.1 per cent in December and the group reiterated its guidance for around six to eight per cent of rental growth across its portfolio this year.
“The central London property market is continuing to provide strong evidence of rising rents and tightening yields. Vacancy rates continue to fall and demand from tenants and investors remains high,” chief executive John Burns said.
The highest rent achieved was at 1 Stephen Street near Tottenham Court Road, where it let the top two floors to AnaCap Financial Partners for almost £82 per sq ft.
Derwent snapped up 20 Farringdon Road in the quarter for £93m from LaSalle Investment Management, stepping up its exposure to Crossrail. In return it sold 22 Kingsway, Mark Square House and a 50 per cent interest in two buildings in Whitechapel to LaSalle for £114m.
The company completed 70,500 sq ft in developments in the period with 933,300 sq ft either under construction or due to start in 2015 including the Copyright building at 25-33 Berners Street.