Commercial construction in London hits post-crash high

摘要

Commercial construction in London has hit its highest level since the financial crash, with activity totalling £7.4bn, although levels across much of the rest of the country took a dip in the first quarter of the year. According to the latestJLL and Glenigan UK Commercial Construction Activity Index, the level of speculative office development under construction in central London totalled 8.3m sq ft at the end of Q1 2016, well ahead of the long-term average of 5m sq ft. In the West End office market alone, construction started on nine speculative schemes in Q1, comprising 596,997 sq ft - the highest level of starts since Q4 2014. The largest starts were at Brunei University London, where 241,000 sq ft of construction got under way, and at The Foundry, where a refurbishment totalling 110,000 sq ft has begun.