£12bn of new offices at risk as tenants get cold feet

New office projects in London totalling £12 billion are at risk over the next five years as nervous would-be tenants refuse to move, building consultants EC Harris warned yesterday.

There are currently 150 projects with the potential to deliver more than 53 million sq ft of new space by 2016 – but not all will be built as tenants become more cautious about committing to new space or decide to move to existing buildings, the consultants said.

The number of new projects in the pipeline have been fuelled by up to 70 million sq ft in office leases which are due to expire before 2017. But the majority of the buildings planned to meet the demand will not be delivered before 2016.