Tall building pipeline suggests momentum is shifting to outer London

Last week, we reported on the findings of the annual NLA Tall Building Survey, published in partnership with Knight Frank. It revealed a record 60 tall buildings were completed in London in 2019, the highest number on record. The planning pipeline, of future tall buildings - at various stages of the planning process – now stands at 525.

The numbers confirm what we already know. Tall buildings are a feature of the built environment in the capital; an increasingly common form of housing and office space.

Unsurprisingly, much of the coverage garnered from the report centred on the above figures, and the subsequent expected drop in delivery this year – something that was forecast even before the Covid-related lockdown.

But a closer look at the data reveals other, less reported, trends.

Indeed, whilst the vast majority of tall building proposals are located within inner London, there has been a gradual shift towards the outer boroughs. In total, there are 186 tall buildings in the pipeline in outer London, up 6% from 175 last year and from 147 in 2017.

By contrast, the pipeline in inner London fell 7% year-on-year from 366 to 339 tall buildings. Outer London boroughs now account for 35% of the future tall building pipeline, a proportion which is steadily increasing.

The continuation of this trend suggests that tall buildings are becoming an increasingly deliverable form of development not limited to central postcodes and business districts and it is in line with expectations that London’s outer boroughs will need to densify in order to accommodate the capital’s continuing growth.

Of the 20 outer London boroughs, 13 of them have tall buildings in the pipeline. Newham continues to be the outer London borough with the largest number of tall buildings in the pipeline (37) though other ‘hotspots’ have emerged including Ealing which has 32 tall buildings in the pipeline, up from 24 in 2018 and 15 in 2017.

A range of factors are underpinning this shift, including comparatively lower land values — which can make sites more viable to build, particularly given increased affordable housing requirements — and estate regeneration programmes in outer boroughs. Increased housing targets from the new London Plan are also likely to have contributed to the growing pipeline, encouraging developers and local authorities to consider higher density schemes.

Whilst the gap between the number of tall buildings in the pipeline in inner and outer London continues to narrow, central boroughs remain comfortably ahead in terms of completed and existing schemes. Of the existing tall buildings in London, 80% are in inner London.

Outer London Clusters

As highlighted, the increasing prevalence of tall buildings in outer London has led to the emergence of new tall building clusters. These are located in key strategic locations that are in most cases Opportunity Areas and close to existing and proposed public transport hubs:

North Acton, located within the London Borough of Ealing, has seen significant investment over the last decade, in recent years this has been spurred on by the establishment of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, combined with construction beginning on the Old Oak Common HS2 and Elizabeth Line station, a number of tall building proposals have come forward. Last year saw the completion of the first tall building in the area, the 26-storey Holbrook House. Currently, there are a further three tall buildings under construction at 31, 36 and 52 storeys. There are an additional 14 tall buildings proposed in the area surrounding North Acton underground station, the tallest of which is 55 storeys. If built it would be one of the tallest residential towers in London.

The regeneration of Woolwich, in the London Borough of Greenwich, is another example of an emerging outer London tall building cluster. Under the London Plan, Woolwich is a designated Opportunity and Strategic Area for regeneration and is earmarked for the development of 5,000 new homes and 2,500 jobs. The regeneration of the Royal Arsenal alongside the development of the new Elizabeth Line station has led to a large-scale and high-density redevelopment of the area with over 2,500 new homes being developed at the Royal Arsenal alone. Within the wider town centre, three tall buildings have been completed and a further 11 are proposed or under construction, the tallest of which will be 25 storeys.

Tottenham Hale, located in the London Borough of Haringey, has in recent years seen proposals come forward for a number of large-scale developments around the rail and bus station. Tottenham Hale is earmarked to become a new District Centre and falls within the Lee Valley Opportunity Area where 21,000 new homes and 13,000 jobs are expected to be delivered. The area already acts as a transport hub with connections to the Victoria Line, mainline rail network as well as extensive bus services. Tottenham Hale station is currently undergoing a £20 million upgrade to improve facilities and increase capacity. In the future the station is also expected to be served by Crossrail 2. Currently, there are three tall buildings under construction and a further two proposed, the tallest of which will be 38 storeys.

* For the purpose of this research, and consistent with previous years’ London Tall Buildings Surveys, tall buildings have been defined as buildings of 20 storeys or above in height, that are at various stages from pre-planning to construction. The data refers to the period from 1st January 2019 until 31st December 2019.