London's biggest landlord for small businesses, Workspace, has seen booming demand in east London as tenants are priced out of increasingly expensive Shoreditch, the company said today.
Workspace’s Pill Box scheme in Bethnal Green was reopened to tenants in February, triggering a huge rise in enquiries and much higher than expected rents after just three months.
Chief executive Jamie Hopkins said: “We’ve got the building pretty much 30% let already. Demand is strong and things are definitely working well there.
“Bethnal Green is one tube stop from Liverpool Street and just near to Shoreditch, and what we’re seeing there is people who already can’t afford Shoreditch are starting to say ‘where’s next?’”
He added: “It’s a really creative quarter, we’ve got a cafe there, a gym there and it’s become a huge hub in itself.”
Tenants are paying £26 a square foot on average, which is well ahead of initial estimates of £22.
Another new scheme, the ScreenWorks in Islington, was launched last week.
Workspace, whose more well-known tenants include personalised cards company Moonpig and designer childrenswear website Alexandalexa, has around 4500 tenants. Rising rents, up nearly 11% to £58.3 million in the year to March 31, and higher property prices have pushed the value of its portfolio past the £1 billion mark for the first time.
Planning consents for flats on its sites also bolstered Workspace’s estate.
Hopkins added: “There are a few forces working in our favour. One is that a lot of buildings which would naturally suit our businesses are being converted to residential, which means there is less office space.”
