All things considered, the numbers describing London’s residential development industry at the end of Q2 2017 have turned out to be very positive:
- Policy makers will be pleased to see that construction starts have picked up across the capital and involve a full range of developers - many of the big players are active, but small and new companies are in the mix too.
- The whole industry will be pleased to see that sales have also picked up – new homes have sold at a greater rate in 2017 (so far) than they did in 2016.
- Build to Rent companies will be pleased to see that their efforts are once again having a significant impact on the figures.
Key Benchmarks:
- Since 2014 construction starts have exceeded sales by 14,500 units.
- It would take just over a year to sell all unsold new homes across London based on the current sales rate.
- It would take just over seven years to sell all homes currently permitted but not yet started across London based on the current sales rate.
Construction:
- 13,300 units started on site during the first half of 2017, 10% of these are for BTR.
- 11,500 units completed construction during the first half of 2017, 16% of these are for BTR.
- 61,400 units are currently under construction, 15% of these are for BTR.
Sales:
- 11,400 units sold during the first half of 2017, 16% of these are for BTR.
- 43% of units under construction are unsold.
- There are 1,100 completed stock units across London, up from a low of 140 in 2014.
Pricing:
- The average asking price across London is £910 psf.
- Average asking prices have increased by 10% since 2015 and by 70% since 2009.
- Almost half of all units under construction across London are priced between £1,000 and £1,499 psf.