Central London occupiers have a lot of factors to consider for their offices at the moment: deals are taking longer than ever to complete; global uncertainty is impacting confidence; fit-out costs continue to rise; and the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) is affecting business plans.

Minimising the decision-making

It perhaps makes sense, therefore, that occupiers are eliminating one variable in their office search by often choosing to stay in their existing location. Our new research shows that mobility is declining, with the proportion of occupiers changing sub-market in London declining by 10% since the pandemic. In 2025, just over half (54%) of occupiers changed their submarket, compared with 69% in 2019.

Occupiers within the City core are the “stickiest”, with postcode-changing relocations down to 49% post-Covid-19. There is a definite ‘core bias’, which is also evident in the West End but to a lesser extent, with just 59% changing submarkets since the pandemic.

For active searches, only a quarter of requirements span the whole of Central London, a decrease of 15 percentage points from five years ago. Eastward migration has dropped by 8% in recent years when compared with 2015-2019. There are multiple factors behind this decrease, not least the fact that the gap between rents in the City and West End is at the lowest it has been for more than 25 years.

Location is key for occupiers, with a recent survey showing that 84% of London workers viewed public transport connectivity and the cost of commuting amongst the top three factors when considering their ideal workplace, with commute length as the single most important factor.

Why are occupiers less footloose?

Part of the ‘stickability’ is down to the cost of changing location. Renewal activity has remained strong, as businesses weigh up a relocation against the backdrop of high fit-out costs and varying business rate changes. A third (32%) of all active demand is from occupiers weighing up stay versus go decisions.

Added to this is the constrained development pipeline, with scheduled completions for the next four years down 10% on the Q4 2025 estimate, as delays to starting on site start to take effect. Vacancy in the core locations is low, with less churn than in previous cycles and fewer options for businesses.

What next?

The London outlook remains underpinned by the depth of demand and a continued preference for best-in-class space in core locations. Larger occupiers face growing pressure to secure buildings that meet location and quality requirements.

There will be more pre-letting and renewals activity for larger occupiers unable to secure existing space that meets their needs. Larger occupiers have two main options: either become more footloose again, or look at multiple offices to create a campus within their ‘home’ location. Either way, i remains important for occupiers to work with their landlords to create office environments that are fit for purpose and deliver value to all parties.