London office vacancies surge as company moves leave holes

LONDON: Modern office buildings are all the rage in central London, with a swath of companies including UBS Group AG moving into new premises in the last 12 months. The problem for landlords is finding someone to replace them.

A growing number of unoccupied older properties caused the overall office vacancy rate to climb to 5.8% at the end of the first quarter from 3.9% a year earlier, according to data compiled by Deloitte LLP. That was the biggest increase since 2009.