![\"Demand](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1153534502-1-1.webp\")
\t\tDemand for central London office space is sky high\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tWednesday 22 April 2026 1:24 pm
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tWednesday 22 April 2026 3:26 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tDemand for central London office space is sky high\t<\/p>\n
AI firms have signed for nearly 400,000 sq ft of London office space in under a month, in the biggest rush of tech leasing the capital has seen in a generation.<\/p>\n
Anthropic confirmed this week it has taken 158,000 sq ft at One Triton Square near Euston in a deal with British Land<\/a> and Royal London Asset Management, with capacity for up to 800 people.<\/p>\n The Claude-owner currently employs over 200 staff in its London offices, and is offering engineer salaries reaching \u00a3630,000 a year.<\/p>\n The handshake lands just days after OpenAI signed for 88,500 sq ft in King\u2019s Cross \u2013 its first permanent UK office \u2013 and weeks after Databricks quadrupled its London footprint <\/a>with a 137,000 sq ft headquarters in Fitzrovia, part of an $850m UK investment pledge.<\/p>\n Mike Wiseman, British Land\u2019s head of campuses, said the company was \u201coverwhelmed with new demand for AI-related businesses growing in London\u201d.<\/p>\n \t\tVacancy hits record lows<\/p>\n The leasing spree is hitting a market already under severe supply pressure, with prime office vacancy in both the City and the West end falling below one per cent, against a long-term average of seven to eight per cent.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, prime City rents are up 46 per cent since 2020, with West End rents rising 68 per cent over six years, according to Knight Frank.<\/p>\n CBRE executive director Chris Vydra said AI firms were coming to London over any other European hub. \u201cNot Berlin or Paris\u201d, he said, \u201cthey come to London first\u201d.<\/p>\n He added that funding levels behind today\u2019s AI companies \u201care so well funded\u2026 billions more than what we saw in the dotcom era\u201d.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n