CoStar Data Shows London Southern Fringe Office Leasing Reached Nine-Year High

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 28, 2026--

Increased activity among smaller occupiers in 2025 drove leasing volumes in London’s Southern Fringe to their highest level since 2016 , according to data from CoStar, a global leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics in the property markets.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260428881126/en/

Leasing rose to almost 1 million sq. ft., driven by a pre-let of nearly 500,000 sq. ft. at Battersea Power Station. Traditionally, leasing volumes have been heavily influenced by a small number of large transactions in the Southern Fringe, bounded by Putney, Lewisham, Streatham and Borough.

“Take-up over the past 12 months has been driven more by deal frequency than by overall volume,” said Patrick Scanlon, senior director of market analytics at CoStar Europe. “Leasing activity in 2025 totalled around 440,000 sq. ft., with the largest transaction measuring 29,000 sq. ft. in August, followed by a 14,600‑sq.-ft. letting in December.”

The strong second half of 2025 was followed by a slowdown in activity in Q1 2026, with only one deal larger than 10,000 sq. ft. (19,670 sq. ft.) recorded in the first three months of the year.

The full analysis can be found here.

For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.costargroup.com.

About CoStar Group

CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) is a global leader in commercial real estate information, analytics, online marketplaces, and 3D digital twin technology. Founded in 1986, CoStar Group is dedicated to digitizing the world’s real estate, empowering all people to discover properties, insights, and connections that improve their businesses and lives.

CoStar Group’s major brands include CoStar, a leading global provider of commercial real estate data, analytics, and news; LoopNet, the most trafficked commercial real estate marketplace; Apartments.com, the leading platform for apartment rentals; Homes.com, the fastest-growing residential real estate marketplace; and Domain, one of Australia’s leading property marketplaces. CoStar Group’s industry-leading brands also include Matterport, a leading spatial data company whose platform turns buildings into data to make every space more valuable and accessible; STR, a global leader in hospitality data and benchmarking; Ten-X, an online platform for commercial real estate auctions and negotiated bids; and OnTheMarket, a leading residential property portal in the United Kingdom.

CoStar Group’s websites attracted over 139 million average monthly unique visitors in the fourth quarter of 2025, serving clients around the world. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, CoStar Group is committed to transforming the real estate industry through innovative technology and comprehensive market intelligence. From time to time, we plan to utilize our corporate website as a channel of distribution for material company information. For more information, visit CoStarGroup.com.

CoStar Data Shows London Southern Fringe Office Leasing Reached Nine-Year High

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California families welcoming newborns will soon receive hundreds of free diapers before leaving the hospital under a first-in-the-nation program announced Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom's office said. The initiative will expand to more hospitals statewide, though the governor's office did not say how many. The state has partnered with nonprofit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers under the label “Golden State Start.”

Newsom said the plan builds on California's effort to make living in the notoriously expensive state a little easier for families. He highlighted policies in recent years to provide students with free meals at school and make preschool free for all.

“Every baby born in California deserves a healthy start in life — and that means making sure parents have the basics they need from day one,” the Democrat said in a statement.

The state set aside $7.4 million in last year's budget to roll out the initiative, and this year's budget proposal includes an additional $12.5 million to implement the program for the upcoming fiscal year ending in June 2027.

It will allow each family to receive 400 diapers in sizes for newborns and babies up to 14 pounds (6 kilograms) when they are discharged from a hospital after birth. That's a little more than a month’s worth, since newborns on average require eight to 10 diapers a day.

Baby2Baby provides families in need with essential items. The nonprofit built a manufacturing system that allows them to produce diapers for 80% less than the retail price, co-CEO Kelly Sawyer Patricof said.

“California is once again setting the standard of what it means to show up for mothers and babies,” added co-CEO Norah Weinstein.

The announcement comes two years after Tennessee and Delaware became the first U.S. states to offer free diapers to families enrolled in their Medicaid programs, which provide healthcare to low-income families. Tennessee families can go to pharmacies to pick up 100 diapers per month for children under two. The Delaware program, which began as a pilot before the state extended it in 2024, provides individuals with up to 80 diapers and up to one pack of baby wipes per week in the first 12 weeks of life.

California's Medicaid system doesn't cover diapers for newborns, but it does cover the items for enrollees ages 5 and older if they have a medical need for them.

Diapers are a large, ongoing expense for many families. They typically spend about $100 a month on the items per child, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. The cost burden can lead some parents to leave their child's diapers on for too long or reuse disposable diapers, which can result in rashes and urinary tract infections, the center says.

California officials are touting the new effort as a way to ease that financial strain.

“The first days at home with a newborn should be focused on the love, connection, and joy of an expanded family, not stress about affording diapers,” said Kim Johnson, the state's health secretary. “This program helps ensure families can begin that journey with greater stability and peace of mind.”

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks alongside local and state leaders during a news conference at BACS St. Regis Center in Hayward, Calif., March 2, 2026. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)

FILE - Diapers for federal employees who are not being paid are collected Oct. 16, 2025, at the Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Marielle Scott, File)