City offices are now as full as before crisis

OFFICE vacancy rates in the City are back to levels last seen before the full impact of the financial crash in 2008 was felt, according to a new measure of the health of the British financial sector.

TheCityUK’s latest tracker of the UK’s competitiveness, seen exclusively by City A.M, showed the amount of spare space in the Square Mile had dipped again, with the take-up of vacancies up by 16 per cent in the year to March.

The lion’s share of indicators used in the report were improving, with 13 climbing during the first quarter of the year and only three declining.

Despite the uptake, TheCityUK note the completion of several large new buildings in central London could drive the vacancy rate up again in the near future.