Office take-up in London's Docklands dropped 57% in the first quarter to just 30,000 sq ft.

Take-up in Q1 was 30,000 sq ft - less than half of the 70,000 sq ft recorded in the final quarter of 2012, Knight Frank has calculated.

The vacancy rate was 9.2% as at the end of the first quarter, up from 7.1% in the previous quarter.

Knight Frank said in its Central London quarterly report: "Docklands activity has suffered as a result of downsizing in the banking industry, which historically has been a major source of tenant demand."

The agent added that there is currently 530,000 sq ft of development under construction in the Docklands. Circa 300,000 sq ft of this space remains available to lease, with the remainder prelet to the European Medicines Agency.