The Rise of the Resi

London looks to be on the rise – in more ways than one. The escalating prices of residential property is leading to a change on – and of – the horizon of the capital.

The city’s celebrated skyscrapers – those that weathered the financial crisis and have become landmarks in their own right – were largely planned and constructed with commercial tenants in mind. And while these buildings are slowly filling up – and the emphasis is on ‘slow’ – there has not been an influx of occupiers as the owners, investors and developers may have liked, despite London’s current booming commercial property market.  The highest building in Europe is currently The Shard at 328 feet high, although towers in Russia’s Moscow City have eclipsed the ‘tallest building’ achievement. Residential properties only comprise a fraction of the building, a ratio that is likely to change in other new tower blocks. 

Perhaps the difficulty in attracting big commercial tenants, together with the rocketing residential prices, has led to high-rise properties increasingly being considered for residential use. The firm New London Architecture has calculated that there are as many as 236 tall buildings in the capital that are either under construction, have been approved or that are proposed. 

As many as 80% of these buildings are designated for private occupiers, according to the report, a figure that will no doubt alter the environs, the infrastructure and the nature of many areas of the capital. One of the interesting aspects of the trend for high-rise building and living is that many of these towers are planned in east London. 

The area around Canary Wharf will see more buildings sprout up and dwarf 1 Canada Square, which had held the top spot in term of height until The Shard was finished. Canada Square contains what seems a meagre 50 floors when compared with the two new 75-storey buildings planned nearby. 

Towers are naturally an efficient way to house a lot of people on a small footprint, and there will surely be plenty of takers who don’t want to spend their spare time commuting and would rather dedicate their earnings to a slice of the London property pie, in the sky. 

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.