British-based banks planning for EU 'no' face lack of European office space
Global banks consider quitting London if Britain opts out of EU membership, but leaving the financial centre would be no simple task
A shortage of prime office space in rival European financial centres may torpedo plans by some of London's banks to quit the city if Britain opts out of European Union membership.
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU and then hold a vote by the end of 2017 on whether to stay in the bloc or leave.
Deutsche Bank, the euro zone's second-largest bank by assets, confirmed last week it was considering cutting its British operations if the country pulled out, and other big global banks are expected to rethink the scale of their British operations under such an eventuality.
But decamping from their expansive London homes to Frankfurt, Paris or Dublin would be no simple task.
"None of the major European cities could cater for that kind of demand at the click of fingers or even with six months notice," said Mat Oakley, head of commercial research at global real estate consultancy Savills.
"The markets across Europe are pretty tight in terms of vacancy rates and lenders are so risk averse in terms of speculative office development that a bank would have to do a pre-let [commit to rent a property before it has been built], or buy a site," he said.
