Developers are planning to build scores of new tall buildings across London over the next few years in a remarkable skyscraper boom that shows no sign of slowing. From the City to the suburbs, towers of at least 20 storeys are going up at a pace that has huge implications for the capital's skyline.
The 'race for space' in the sky is driven by London's chronic shortage of new housing and modern, sustainable office space, as well as high land prices and green belt planning restrictions. Figures from data consultants Glenigan show that 230 high-rise projects of 20 storeys or more have been granted detailed consent since 2017, including 76 in the past two years alone.
Activity has been intense in the City, where the capital's skyscraper craze began with the 183-metre NatWest tower completed in 1980. There are now 26 towers of 75 metres or more either under construction, with consent, or likely to be given the green light in the Square Mile. Just this week, developer Brookfield Properties said it was planning a 54-storey skyscraper at 99 Bishopsgate that would be the fifth tallest in the Square Mile.
The 290-metre tower at One Undershaft, which will almost match the height of The Shard, is set to come before City planners later in the spring and is thought almost certain to get the go-ahead. According to Gwyn Richards, planning and development director at the City Corporation, 'It's a hugely vigorous pipeline, probably close to the busiest we've ever been.'
However, proposed schemes have caused outrage. One bitterly contested example was the 285-metre glass tower at 55 Bishopsgate, approved last August despite objections from Historic England and St Paul's. Henrietta Billings, director of heritage group Save, said London suffered from a 'lack of oversight and planning at the more strategic level.'
