Singapore Ranks Fourth Apac Office Space Taken Legal Firms Savills
According to research conducted by Savills, Singapore has been ranked fourth among Asia Pacific cities in terms of leasing activity in the legal sector for the first half of 2024. Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong took the top three spots, while Singapore closely followed behind.
Ashley Swan, executive director of commercial at Savills Singapore, comments, “Legal firms in Singapore have been quite active in a relatively stable leasing market. Some firms have taken up new premises with a refreshed way of working in order to attract and retain talent.”
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Globally, Singapore came in eleventh place, with New York ranking first and leasing out 1.4 million sq ft of space to legal firms in the first half of 2024. This accounted for more than half of the 4.3 million sq ft leased by the top 15 legal markets in the world.
As per Savills, US cities made up 69% of the legal leasing activity among the largest legal markets, driven by the size of the market and the preference for lower occupancy density among US legal firms.
Although most legal firms maintained the same office space in the first half of 2024 globally, Savills highlights some areas of expansion. In Europe, Middle East and Africa, 40% of firms have expanded their office space, with Paris, Brussels and London being the top locations.
In China, domestic legal firms are relocating to larger spaces, compensating for a decrease in physical footprints among some international firms. Chinese firms are also expanding in European markets, mainly to serve China-based clients and work at lower fees compared to their Western counterparts.
Savills also notes that legal firms are increasingly looking to secondary cities as part of their growth strategies, driven by the availability of competitively-priced legal talent. Many British law firms in the UK are turning to cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, while some firms are looking to Brisbane and Melbourne to support growth in Australia.