The West End market saw take up remain close to trend levels once again in Q1 2026. Activity levels in the first three months of the year were just under 641,000 sq ft across 120 transactions. The leaning toward larger transactions is dominating activity once again, with lettings above 20,000 sq ft accounting for 48% of the quarter’s lettings.
The largest deal in Q1 was US AI group Databricks pre letting Derwent London’s – 136,300 sq ft Network building on Howland Street. There have been a number of lettings to artificial intelligence groups over the past 6-12 months with the latest news being the 158,000 sq ft letting to Anthropic at One Triton Square, which was agreed after the quarter end. Take up in Q1 has been strongest in the Fitzrovia and Soho sub markets, where activity has been significantly ahead of trend levels.