Central London office lettings plunged in lockdown year, but enquiries picking up

The amount of central London office space signed for in the WFH year dropped 67%, new data shows on the anniversary of the first lockdown.

New preliminary figures from property agent Savills show how the lettings market was impacted after the Prime Minister in March 2020 told people to stay at home where possible. However, the firm pointed to encouraging signs since the start of this year, including enquiries picking up.

The company found that central London office lettings between March 2020 and end of February 2021 reached 3.8 million square feet . That was down from 11.7 million square feet in March 2019 to February 2020.

That came during a period when a number of bosses put property decisions on hold as they tried to ride out the Covid-19 crisis, and as travel restrictions made deals trickier.

Many firms are expected to embrace a mix of home and office working post-pandemic.