Offices in Brussels ‘much cheaper than London’

17 June 2004

BRUSSELS – The Belgian capital is the 11th most expensive city in Europe when it comes to renting office space, it was reported on Thursday.

As far as prices are concerned, the most expensive offices go for EUR 295 per square metre in the Quartier Léopold in the heart of the EU district, according to a study by real estate and money management services provider Jones Lang LaSalle.

Still, Belgium lags far behind London, where office rents hover around a whopping EUR 1,000 per square metre.

Concerning office vacancies, the study found that one in five offices (16 percent) on the outskirts of the city are vacant at present.

This percentage falls considerably for property in the city centre however, where around 5.7 percent of available office space is empty.

Nevertheless said Jones Lang LaSalle, the market for office space in Brussels has remained generally rather weak during the first half of this year.

The only part of the city to buck the trend is the European quarter, where office space in buildings around the main EU institutions seems as sought after as ever, the survey found.

[Copyright Expatica 2004]

Subject : Belgian news