Workspace rent roll rises in Q3 amid solid London demand

Flexible office space provider Workspace posted a rise in total rent roll in the third quarter as occupancy nudged higher amid ongoing customer demand in London.

In the quarter to 31 December, total rent roll was up 2.5% to £86.9m and up 11.1% over the nine months from the end of March 2016.

Meanwhile, like-for-like rent roll was 3.5% higher in the quarter at £53.3m and 9.3% over the ninth months.

LFL rent per square foot was up 3.1% in the quarter to £25.71 and 7.8% over the nine months, while LFL occupancy was 90.6, up from 90.3% at September.

Chief executive officer Jamie Hopkins said: “I am delighted to report another active quarter of strong rental growth, driven by ongoing customer demand for our product across London. As well as solid growth in like-for-like pricing levels, our completed projects continue to let up well and we are making good progress on our refurbishment and redevelopment pipeline. We also continue to explore acquisition opportunities that meet our strict investment criteria.

“Workspace's unique combination of modern, designed office space and state of the art facilities are hugely relevant and increasingly attractive to our growing customer base of London businesses, and we have seen the robust levels of demand continuing into the final quarter of the financial year. With a strong balance sheet, established brand and high quality offer, despite the current challenging economic environment, I am confident that the business is well positioned to make further progress as we look forward to the year ahead."

The company said it exchanged contacts in October last year for the sale of three mixed-use redevelopments and planning consents were given for two refurbishments in Hackney and Ladbroke Grove.