There is a nagging feeling that the London office market is about to hit a sticky patch.
On the surface the economy is sailing along steadily and skyscrapers are going up everywhere but the seed corn of future economic growth lies with start-ups and growing medium sized firms.
The space they need is often cheap and in older properties but these are being converted into flats and even worse, companies are being evicted from existing buildings so they can be converted.
The voices across the property industry and local government are too strong to be ignored. Yet that is what the government is doing. London’s economy will be unbalanced if we concentrate on building towers that are sold to foreign, particularly Chinese, buyers but remain empty.
Shoreditch is a good example of how the capital can gain from dynamic new companies moving into an area that was cheap and pioneering change. We all gain from that process.
The good examples of London adapting is that Docklands is once again on the move in terms of occupiers and new development and East London, Stratford and the Royal Docks are being developed.
Meanwhile, we appear to be keeping up with the need for improved transport through the rebuilding of stations together with Crossrail and Thameslink.