The FCA as agreed a move away from its Canary Wharf HQ to a new development next to the Olympic Park.

 The financial regulator will leave its current base to move in to 430,000 sq ft of offices in The International Quarter (TIQ), Stratford.

 Reports say that the move won’t take place until 2018 when the current lease at 25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, comes to an end. The watchdog, which employs almost 3,000 staff, has been in the Docklands for nearly 20 years.

 Staff were informed that they were likely to move to the International Quarter, Stratford City, which is a new 22-acre, £1.3 billion project from Lend Lease and LCR which will be home to 4 million sq ft of flexible commercial office space.

 The commercial district is part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, large swathes of which will become open to the public as of April 5th.

 The FCA will become the first tenant to sign up for office space at the 22-acre scheme, which will have 4m sq ft offices once complete.

 CBRE were appointed last year by the Regulator to source a new HQ ahead of its lease expiry.

 Lesley Titcomb, the FCA’s Chief Operating Officer, told the Financial Times the move represented “good value for money for our fee-payers”.

 The title added that office space is let at an annual average of £45 a square foot in Canary Wharf and £65 in the City, according to estate agent Savills. Its Head of Commercial Property Research Mat Oakley estimated that comparable space in Stratford would cost £30 a square foot.

 Another site the FCA was weighing up a potential move to was at the Canary Wharf Group’s Heron Quays.