South East: Office occupiers set to expand at faster rate than London, finds RICS

A fifth (20%) of UK property decision-makers expect to increase, rather than decrease (7%) the amount of office space they own or rent in the South East over the next five years – significantly ahead of London and the rest of the country – according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Annual Occupier Survey, in association with EY and Savills.

The net anticipated expansion of 13% was significantly ahead of that for London, where the net expansion was predicted to be 7%.  The lowest indication of growth was for the South West, at 4%.

The survey revealed that, notwithstanding Brexit, 41% of UK businesses expect to expand the amount of UK property they own or rent over the next five years, while only 8% expect to downsize.

Paul Bagust, RICS director for UK commercial property professional group, said: “Among those who expect to expand, more than half cited quality of facilities (57%) as the key driver for selecting their office space. Proximity to transport links and amenities is the next most important (39%), with a third (35%) citing technology and digital connectivity.”

To obtain the figures, ComRes interviewed 150 real estate decision-makers at large companies (250+ employees) in July this year. 

Credit: CoStar