City office space rents soared in the last three months of 2009, new figures show.
A report from NB Real Estate shows that average rents per square foot in the Square Mile hit £47.50 during the fourth quarter of last year.
This represents a rise of 11.8 per cent from the preceding period when the average stood at £42.50 and is the largest growth recorded since 1988.
Prior to the surge, rents had been falling successively for two and a half years.
James Gillet, director of City offices at NB Real Estate, dubbed the Q4 rate of recovery “phenomenal” and claimed it signaled that a more optimistic outlook is returning to the sector.
He said: “When you consider just how far rents had fallen and how cheap some office space in the City of London had become we shouldn’t be surprised to see such a violent recovery in rents.
“Landlords and the financial institutions across the City and Docklands are far more optimistic than they have been in years.”
At the peak of the market in 2007, City office rents hit £69.50 per square foot.