Cranes fill London sky as construction soars

BUILDING activity across London has more than trebled since its low in mid-2010, booming to a four-year peak, data showed yesterday.

Office construction has risen eight per cent over the past six months to 9.7m square feet of space under construction, bouncing off lows of 2.7m in the third quarter of 2010.

The figures, in Deloitte’s London Office Crane Survey, are the clearest sign yet the commercial construction market is back in full swing, with eye-catching designs like the Walkie-Talkie building at 20 Fenchurch Street dominating London’s skyline.

Around one third of space under construction was pre-let in the first quarter, the equivalent of six Shard towers – up from the 2011 slump when just one per cent was pre-let.

Deloitte partner Anthony Duggan said: “Importantly, a number of the ‘bellwether’ vacant schemes across London are now transacting, reducing the ability of potential occupiers to sit back and wait for conditions to improve.”