Central London property investment on the increase, figures show

Investment in central London office property increased during the third quarter of 2009, indicating that a growing number of firms may be looking to carry out market entry in the UK.

According to new figures from CB Richard Ellis, take-up of commercial buildings in central London rose to 2.6 million square feet during the three months to the end of September.

This means that the amount has more than doubled since reaching a low of 1.1 million square feet during the opening three months of the year.

Head of central London research at CB Richard Ellis Kevin McCauley stated that there has been a "marked improvement" recently.

The amount of space under offer climbed from 1.6 million square feet in the second quarter to 2.4 million square feet, while available office property declined by nearly 1.5 million square feet to 19.9 million square feet.

Mr McCauley noted that take-up in the City reached its highest since 2007, with the majority (90 per cent) of investment in this area coming from overseas investors.

"On the back of this strong demand, the options for large occupiers looking for new space are becoming increasingly limited," he observed.

Cushman & Wakefield recently named London the best business city in Europe for the 19th year running, with the capital seeing off competition from Paris and Frankfurt.