The City of London has been knocked out of Europe's top three most expensive office locations by Geneva and Paris, research by property consultants NB Real Estate and ONCOR International shows today.
Average office rents in the City business district - Britain's historic financial heartland - have fallen 38% in the last 12 months to €593 per square metre, making it Europe's sixth most expensive office district.
However, the West End of London remains the most expensive office district in Europe despite experiencing the largest fall in office rents in the past year, with 45% wiped off its office rental values to €961 per square metre.
Office rents in Moscow and Geneva, Europe's second and fourth most expensive business locations, are now €873.3 and €623.1 per square metre respectively. Dublin takes fifth spot, with average rents of €600 per square metre.
Geneva and Zurich saw the biggest growth in rents in the last 12 months, the report said. Geneva has seen a 14.6% increase in the rental cost of office space and Zurich a 5.5% increase in rents.
Less than half the 16 European office locations covered by the report posted growth in rents in the past year, the weakest overall performance since 2004.
With the exception of London, Moscow office rents suffered the largest fall in Europe in the last 12 months, dropping 15% on average.
