News
Regional cities lead construction boom
According to the latest regional Deloitte Crane Surveys, cities such as Manchester and Birmingham are witnessing a construction boom with residential and commercial schemes accounting for the majority of project starts.
Deloitte’s Manchester Survey shows significant growth for a second year in the city with 20 major residential projects and six major office schemes starting in 2017.
Sustained strong growth means Manchester is enjoying a 60% jump in residential and a 75% hike in office projects now under construction.
Deloitte also reported strong growth in Birmingham and Leeds where developers’ confidence for city centre residential development remains strong.
Several significant Manchester schemes are likely to commence in 2018 including major residential developments as part of the St. John’s master plan, residential blocks at Circle Square, further activity from Manchester Life Development Company in Ancoats and New Islington, and work on Angel Meadow which forms part of the Northern Gateway project.
Birmingham saw 24 major construction starts last year. This was again driven by the boom in city residential developments, up nearly a third to 13 schemes delivering 2,500 new units in 2018 alone.
In Leeds, residential construction across the city centre hit its highest level in a decade – 1,586 units across five development sites.
Leeds continues to deliver good volumes of new office space with three new construction starts in 2017, including another steel-framed office block at the Wellington Place development.