Refurbishment projects set to drive London office market

Confidence remains strong in the London commercial sector, despite a number of challenges, with refurbishment and rebuild projects set to increase significantly over the coming months.

According to the latest Deloitte London Office Crane survey (summer 2022), refurbishment projects in the capital have risen by 14% over the last year, a trend that is likely to continue amid growing awareness of the built environment’s carbon contributions, occupier demand for more sustainable offices and incoming legislation.

Between October 2021 and March 2022, the volume of new commercial scheme starts in London dropped by almost a third. The survey said this is primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it also reports that there is likely to be more new starts over the next 12 months. There is currently 250,000m² of planned office buildings in demolition phase and scheduled to start before September 2022.

The City is again the area of the capital with most activity, although there is significant work due to start in the West End, Docklands and Nine Elms in south London.