Linklaters & Paines is taking 16 per cent more office space than it originally intended when it moves from its three offices in the City to 1 Silk Street and the adjoining Milton House next autumn. The firm signed the largest City pre-let ever two years ago, when it agreed to lease 1 Silk Street and the first nine floors of 15-storey Milton House. Now it has agreed to lease the remaining six floors in Milton House – an extra 60,000 sq ft – from owners Commerz Grundbesitz-Investmentgesellschaft, represented by Norton Rose. Linklaters property partner Elizabeth Bennett said three of the floors would be sub-let to investment bank Merrill Lynch and the remaining three to other companies. “This will give us extra long-term expansion space,” she said. The firm has reportedly agreed to pay £29 per sq ft which, with a total floor space of 428,000 sq ft, brings its annual rent to around £12.4 million.