London’s AI firms cluster around King’s Cross as Clerkenwell pulls start-ups
Key Points
- AI firms have leased more than 1 million sq ft of London office space since the start of 2025, around 7% of total lettings.
- King's Cross and Euston lead by deal size; Clerkenwell and Farringdon record the highest transaction count at 18.
- Anthropic signed 158,000 sq ft at One Triton Square with British Land; OpenAI took 88,500 sq ft at Regent's Quarter.
- Knight Frank confirms AI tenants are not paying a premium and are not requesting unusual infrastructure.
- London's 20,000-plus AI engineers, more than double any other European city, are driving the cluster effect.
AI companies have leased more than one million square feet of London office space since the start of 2025, equivalent to around 7% of all lettings during the period, according to data from Knight Frank.
King’s Cross and Euston lead the capital by deal size, while Clerkenwell and Farringdon, the area that includes Shoreditch, have recorded the highest number of individual transactions at 18.
The figures, shared with HotMinute by Knight Frank, reveal a two-tier geography. Large institutional AI tenants are concentrating in King’s Cross and Euston, the area now branded the Knowledge Quarter, where Google DeepMind has long been anchored.
Smaller AI firms are still gravitating to the traditional Clerkenwell and Shoreditch tech corridor, where lower headline rents and a denser cluster of start-ups make the area a more natural fit for early-stage companies.
The City Core, Fitzrovia and Southbank Core round out the most popular submarkets by leasing volume.
Knight Frank confirmed that King’s Cross will continue to anchor the cluster, but noted that AI demand is now distributed across most London submarkets rather than confined to a single district.
Headline deals anchor King’s Cross
The headline deals reflect the King’s Cross pull.
Anthropic signed for 158,000 sq ft at One Triton Square in a deal with British Land and Royal London Asset Management, the British landlord confirmed in its trading update on Wednesday (29 April).
OpenAI has taken 88,500 sq ft at Regent’s Quarter. The Triton Square lease is the sixth deal British Land has signed with Anthropic, with the company stating its campus proposition supports the AI firm’s UK growth.
British Land’s London campus business signed 215 deals covering 1,692,000 sq ft during its financial year, with momentum accelerating in the fourth quarter.
The company raised earnings guidance for both 2026 and 2027.
What is drawing AI firms to London
Venture capital firm Sequoia estimates London is home to more than 20,000 engineers with some AI expertise, more than double any other European city.
The clustering effect around the Knowledge Quarter has pulled in Meta, Synthesia and Wayve alongside the larger US labs, creating a talent density that newer entrants are reluctant to leave behind.
Knight Frank confirmed that AI firms are not paying a premium over the wider market.
Some deals have been signed at or above prime headline rents, but the broker attributed this to the scarcity of quality office space in popular locations rather than AI firms paying more than other occupiers.
The firm also said it was not aware of AI tenants asking for unusual infrastructure requirements in terms of power capacity, cooling or connectivity.
That finding cuts against the assumption that AI offices need specialist fit-outs.
The compute is elsewhere, in data centres rather than central London floors, and the office demand reflects headcount expansion rather than on-premise hardware requirements.
Submarket leasing snapshot
| Submarket | Position by deal size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| King’s Cross / Euston | First | Anchored by Google DeepMind, Anthropic and OpenAI; institutional AI tenant cluster |
| City Core | Second | Broad commercial cluster, includes Broadgate campus activity |
| Fitzrovia | Third | Adjacent to Knowledge Quarter, draws spillover demand |
| Southbank Core | Fourth | Growing tech presence, less concentrated than King’s Cross |
| Clerkenwell / Farringdon | Highest transaction count (18) | Includes Shoreditch; smaller deals, denser start-up activity |
Pressure on the wider market
The AI surge is taking place against a tightening supply of quality space.
London’s flexible workspace operator Workspace said last week that a decrease in rent roll and reduction in pricing during the second half of its financial year would weigh on its property portfolio valuation, with full year 2026/27 trading profit expected to step down compared to FY 2025/26.
Charlie Green, Workspace chief executive officer, said the company plans to reposition its portfolio to own the value category and serve the start-up, SME and scale-up market.
By comparison the AI sector, where firms are reportedly hiring at salaries north of £600,000, illustrates the bifurcation in London’s commercial property market between cash-rich tech tenants and cost-pressured smaller occupiers.
