Out-Law News

CBRE research predicts high-rise residential boom in London


High-rise residential development in London will increase over the coming years with upcoming schemes offering a potential 83,600 new homes in tower blocks, new research has found.

The 'Towers of London' report (13-page / 2.75MB PDF) by real estate firm CBRE said that 135 buildings of 20 or more storeys were either under construction or in the planning pipeline. It said that many of these towers are concentrated in clusters in the City, Canary Wharf, Croydon and in the Nine Elms area of the Southbank.

According to the research the boom is being driven by increased land values, with pressure on developers to use their sites more efficiently and higher values being attached to residential units higher up.

The clustering of the tower blocks is understood to be strongly influenced by planning policy, which protects viewing corridors from high-rise development while directing it towards opportunity areas and the central activity zone, the report said.

"Towers are valuable instruments for providing much needed homes," said CBRE chairman of residential Mark Collins in a statement.  

"In the last decade, tower schemes have generated just under 10,000 new homes, but there now are 13,600 currently under construction and a further 70,000 units in the planning pipeline, all of which can help to play an important role in meeting the requirement for new homes in the capital," Collins said.

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