Afternoon:
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The West End property market burst into life today with two of the biggest rental deals since the financial crisis kicked off two years ago.
Insurance entrepreneur Clive Cowdery agreed to rent offices in Savile Row for his Resolution investment firm at £91/sq ft.
US private equity group General Atlantic Partners also took space in the same building - 23 Savile Row - at £85/sq ft.
London property agents said the deals - two of the most expensive in the capital since September 2007 - were a clear sign that the West End still commands the top office rents in the world. Simon Tann, senior director at CB Richard Ellis who advised on the deals, said: "There seems to be life out there.
"There are people who want to be in the West End and they are still willing to pay money for the right product." He said the new office block, which was built by D2 Private - the Irish property investment company owned by David Arnold - on the site of the former headquarters of English Heritage, was "the best there has been for some time" in the West End.
The top floor was let in July for £93/sq ft and the rest of the building also looks set to attract bumper rents. It is also thought that deals of similar value are close to being agreed at newly redeveloped 49 Park Lane.
The prices are well below the world record of £140/sq ft which Permal Investment Management agreed to pay at 12 St James's Square in September 2007. At the time it was one of a number of deals in the West End which came in above the £100 mark before boom turned to bust.
But £90-plus is considerably higher than the £30 or £40/sq ft which new space in the City commands.
