Banks hungry for London space

Banks will require an extra 1.6m sq ft of space in central London over the next three years – equivalent to four Shards or five Heron Towers, according to new research from BNP Paribas Real Estate.

The extra space will accommodate the 11,500 extra employees that are expected to be hired over the same period in the capital in the banking and financial services sector with the City and Mayfair/St. James’s being the areas set to benefit most.

BNP Paribas said landlords would have the demand they needed from the financial sector, and occupiers would pay the rents but their schemes could be more multi-let than they expected and the occupiers would push hard for lease flexibility.

Seventy-five per cent of the banks surveyed said their business would grow over the next three years and 55 percent said they would increase employment over the same period – mostly in front-of-house operations.

The general trend seems to be that the smaller – perhaps more nimble – occupiers expect to see the strongest growth and the really big banks only expect modest growth, the biannual survey found.