Vacancy is falling, but refurbished office space is still above average. Ready layouts help landlords win lettings.
- The market: London vacancy has fallen below its long-term average for the first time since COVID-19, but refurbished space in the City and Southbank is vacant at a higher rate than normal.
- The cost: Landlords are paying for it in incentives, with rent-free periods of 24 to 30 months across submarkets.
- laiout: Test fits, renders and video give agents and occupiers a plan to say yes to.
The headline is good. Knight Frank's Q3 2026 London Offices Spotlight reports vacancy below its long-term average for the first time since COVID-19, at 7.3% London-wide, with leasing up to 3.2m sq ft. The detail is harder for anyone holding a finished floor.
- Refurbished space is the soft spot: In the City and Southbank, overall vacancy of 7.5% is below its 7.8% long-term average, but vacancy in new and refurbished space is 5.7% against 4.3%. At the top, Savills puts City Grade A tower vacancy at just 1.9%, and every City development start in H1 2026 was a refurbishment. That puts more weight on how one refurbished floor compares with the next.
- Incentives are the price: Rent-free periods across submarkets run from 24 to 30 months, from 24 in City Core to 27 to 30 in Canary Wharf. At that level, a letting is won or lost on how quickly the occupier can see themselves in the space.
- Pre-lets take the best early: Knight Frank credits pre-let transactions with boosting Q3 take-up. A speculative floor has to stand up without a named occupier attached.
A refurbished floor is usually marketed as a bare plate, which leaves the occupier to imagine their own team in it. laiout lets you answer that question before they ask it:
- Show their team in the floor, live: When an enquiry arrives, set the prospect's team size and room needs and generate options in seconds, even during the tour, so the conversation starts from their brief. Multi-tenancy tools show the same floor as one large occupier or split between smaller ones, with capacity and efficiency beside each, so agents can anchor the conversation on what the floor delivers and not only on the incentive. See spec suites with AI space planning.
- Make a bare floor look finished: Turn the layout into AI stills with Lock Style so every floor shares one look, place several cameras to cover a floor from different angles, and add short AI video renders that move through the space. Refine any render with Select & Edit, for example adding the building's signage or a branded wall.
- Stay in the conversation after the tour: Send a shared link that opens without an account, with layouts, 3D and renders included. Require an email to view and you can see who opened it. Live Listings put the same interactive layout on your listing page. This supports the speed advantage in competitive leasing markets.
Q: How long are rent-free periods on London office lettings in 2026?
Knight Frank's Q3 2026 Spotlight shows 24 to 30 months across London submarkets, from 24 in City Core to 27 to 30 in Canary Wharf.
Q: Our refurbished floor has been on the market for six months. Where do we start?
Start with the occupiers who have viewed it. Produce test fits at the sizes they asked about, for example 40, 80 and 150 people, and send them as links. Several options on the same floor also show the flexibility of the plate, which is what an agent can take to market.
Q: Our agent and architect already produce plans. Where does laiout fit?
Alongside them. Architects design the building. laiout gives the lettings team fast, comparable options to put in front of occupiers while the design intent stays with people. For vacant upper floors, see landlords converting vacant floors.
Incentives close a gap, but they also cost 24 to 30 months of income. The landlords who shorten the decision for an occupier will protect more of that income. A floor that arrives with a plan is easier to say yes to. Book a demo with laiout and have a test-fit pack ready for your next viewing.
- London vacancy is 7.3%, below its long-term average for the first time since COVID-19.
- City and Southbank new and refurbished vacancy is 5.7%, against a 4.3% long-term average.
- City Grade A tower vacancy is 1.9%, and every City development start in H1 2026 was a refurbishment.
- Rent-free periods run from 24 to 30 months across submarkets.
- Pre-lets lifted Q3 take-up, so speculative floors must stand alone.
- laiout test fits, AI stills, video renders, multi-tenancy options and shared links give agents something ready to send the same day.
- London Offices Spotlight Q3 2026, Knight Frank.
- Central London Office Market Watch, Savills, 6 August 2026.
Author: Theodore Harding, laiout
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