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Central London office investment to hit £18.5bn - JLL

Investment volumes in Central London office developments will exceed £18.5bn in 2015, according to new data from property experts, JLL.

The report also shows that the City and West End sub-markets are on track to achieve highest volumes ever recorded, at £11.3bn and £6.5bn respectively.

Docklands sub-market volumes are expected to fall from last year’s total of £2.8bn to £700m, though last year’s volumes were significantly boosted by the sale of the HSBC tower, for £1.1bn.

Overseas sources of capital have been prominent again this year, with Taiwanese investors particularly dominant. Historically, Taiwanese investors have lacked a strong presence in the London office market, but after debuting with three deals totalling £644m in 2014, the total has risen to £934m across a further three deals, with the likelihood of more to come in 2016.

Damian Corbett, head of Central London office capital markets at JLL said: “Continued healthy market turnover is testament to the depth and liquidity of the London market. Some investors have taken the opportunity to realise profit, which is to be expected after a period of sustained growth.

“However, there continues to be an abundance of equity capital seeking to be placed in the world’s leading real estate markets, as the recent rise of Taiwanese investment illustrates, and we expect London to continue to attract a broad base of global investors in 2016, with Chinese investors likely to return in force.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .