After several years of falling property valuations in Canary Wharf, the East London area is witnessing a modest recovery as the value of its largest offices increases for the first time in years.
Data from Canary Wharf Group (CWG), the estate’s landlord and manager, as reported by the Financial Times, reveals that the value of a £2bn portfolio, representing about half of the group’s office holdings, rose by 0.6 percent between March and June, as reported by City AM.
This portfolio includes offices leased to Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Brookfield Asset Management.
The FT also reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the remaining half of the portfolio is showing a similar trend. Leasing volumes for the group have already surpassed 450,000 sq ft in 2025, putting them on track to exceed last year’s total of 700,000 sq ft.
It was reported that this year’s volumes, which are expected to be a record, surpass the annual totals for 2022 and 2023 and are projected to produce the best leasing year in over a decade, according to people familiar with the situation.
Canary Wharf comeback?
This comes after years of seeing its valuations drop, last April, CWG reported a 14.7 per cent annual fall in the value of its property holdings to £6.8bn.
However, there has been an uptick in activity this year. At the start of August, it was reported that Visa is set to take over approximately 15,800 square meters of office space in the region’s One Canada Square.
This follows Canary Wharf’s announcement of two significant leasing deals earlier this month with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and SmartestEnergy, bringing the total space leased over 2025 to 250,000 sq ft.
Other firms reaffirming their commitment to Canary Wharf include Barclays, Citi, Fitch, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Revolut, and UCL.
In May, CWG obtained planning permission to construct a 46-storey student accommodation building in the Wood Wharf area.
