Average Rented Office Prices Fall in London and Across UK

CAMBRIDGE, England, September 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

-   Price per Desk Falls 10% for Both Rented and Shared Offices; Serviced Desks Unchanged

Monthly asking prices for rented offices have dropped this quarter, according to Office Genie. The news comes after a reported slowdown in London office take up in the last quarter, and price freezes throughout the first half of the year.

The Office Genie Price Index has shown a 10 per cent drop in both rented and shared office average monthly prices across the UK over the last quarter. London prices were at the heart of the slump, mirroring the national drop.

However prices in key business centres such as Birmingham and Manchester held their own, with very little price fluctuation between June and September. Also, serviced office monthly prices remained static across the UK over the same period.

Office Genie managing director Ciaron Dunne said: "We look at the prices of more than 250,000 available offices across the UK and monitor monthly prices - by desk - in rented, shared and serviced offices.

"Since June we have seen the average cost fall from £139 per desk in June to £122 per desk in September. This drop was mirrored in London, where the average price per desk fell from £194 to £172.

"However in Birmingham prices were static at £159, while both Manchester and Leeds saw slight rises in average prices per desk."

It was a similar story for shared offices, where desk prices fell in average cost from £328 to £294. Again, the price fall was most keenly felt in London where the average being charged fell from £339 to £306.

Office Genie is unique in the office space rental sector, as it breaks down the estimated price per desk by allocating the average space needed per employee. This gives added insight when comparing prices between shared, serviced and rented offices and office space.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Office Genie is the UK's leading desk space website, providing an independent environment to both let desks and compare them, for free. The original site, Desk Space Genie, was launched in 2009 as the first dedicated desk space office search engine. The name was changed to Office Genie in 2010 as the range of desks available spread to include serviced space and complete offices. The site is one of the most popular in its field, regularly featuring in the national press. http://www.officegenie.co.uk

2. All queries and interview requests should be directed to Chris Marling at Office Genie:  chris.marling@officegenie.co.uk