The number of homes being built in London soared by a third last year, nearly double the number under construction in the last peak, as office to residential conversions caused numbers to spike.
More than 47,000 units were under construction in the capital last year, up 90% on the last peak in 2007 and the highest number ever recorded by EGi’s London Residential Research.
Almost a quarter of all starts were as a result of permitted development rights, as developers took advantage of the set application to consent period of 56 days. The rights allow developers to convert offices to residential without going through the formal planning process.
Towers also played a part in boosting numbers with over 400 towers currently in the development pipeline.
Starts also rocketed to 28,000 homes up 15% on the previous and two-thirds on the peak. Tower Hamlets saw the highest number of starts in inner London at 2,800 units and Croydon topped the outer London table at 1,700 units.
“We said the market was supercharged last year, this year it’s gone ballistic,” said Nigel Evans, head of LRR. “We may well end up in the absurd situation where the majority of the capital’s owner occupiers are living in increasingly small spaces whilst on the other end of the property spectrum space is abundant but lying empty,” he added.
Full analysis of LRR’s report will be featured in this week’s residential section of Estates Gazette.
Download the full report >>
Click on the buttons in the graphic below to change the view between application, permission, under construction and starts. Hover over the bars to see absolute values.
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