London named world’s most expensive city for tech startups
London has been crowned the world’s priciest city in which to establish a tech startup, with the cost of commercial office space in Shoreditch soaring higher than San Francisco or Brooklyn according to commercial property consultants Knight Frank.
The survey put the annual cost of leasing 600sq/ft of office space in Shoreditch at $67k, higher than equivalent markets in Brooklyn and San Francisco, which would set prospective occupants back $63k and $62k respectively.
This has stoked concerns that runaway costs could be hampering the city’s ability to nurture future tech and creative businesses which may be priced out of the market.
Knight Frank tech partner James Nicholson, commented: “This study illustrates that co-working has an important role to play in supporting the next generation of innovative tech companies early in their life cycle.
"These businesses are highly mobile, and mature markets such as Shoreditch and Brooklyn – having worked so hard to cultivate tech clusters – risk being overtaken by other locations if they cannot provide affordable workspace.”
London fares rather better when looking at co-working spaces however, with startup willing to share accommodation rather than boast their own private space benefiting from a huge $38k per year saving.
To lease the equivalent co-working space would cost just $29k, significantly less than the $41k and $35k asked of in Hong Kong and Dublin.