The City of London Corporation has revealed a new ‘heat map’ showcasing the scale of construction work taking place across the Square Mile. It amounts to roughly 9,040,000 square feet (approx. 840,000 square meters) of floorspace being delivered over the next several years, equivalent to the floorspace of around 10 ‘Cheesegrater’ buildings, or 18 ‘Gherkins’.

As the Corporation prepares to send a team to next month’s MIPIM 2024, Europe’s largest real estate conference, City delegates will look to demonstrate to the world’s developers and investors, that London is the best place to build and invest.

City Corporation figures show that within the gross figure of the nine million square feet under construction, around 5.4 million square feet represents a net uplift in new space for the Square Mile. The majority of this activity will deliver new, sustainable A-Grade office space, to accommodate projected jobs growth in the City, whilst a range of public realm enhancements, including new pedestrian routes, as well as new retail, cultural, green and educational spaces, will create a vibrant and dynamic visitor destination for everyone to enjoy.

London’s delegation to MIPIM, as well as the strength of the City’s investment potential, will be supported by highly positive data, showing the Corporation received a 25% increase in planning applications and similar increase in the number of approvals, compared with the previous year (2022). This followed a year-on-year increases in planning applications received and decided, since 2020, as well as recent Transport for London (TfL) data, showing the Tube reached four million journeys in a single day, with overall journey figures nearing return to pre-pandemic levels and Liverpool Street station becoming the busiest in the UK.

Furthermore, the competitive rents for office space in the Square Mile, combined with the high demand for the ‘best in class’ A-Grade office space, have seen substantial investment in retrofit schemes which upgrade Grade B offices to Grade A. The City is also seeing exceptionally high pre let and letting figures in Grade A stock, with large occupiers like HSBC and Clifford Chance returning to the City as tenants, along with new additions, such as Apple and TikTok.

Policy Chairman of the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, said:

“The City is an asset to London, the UK and the world. It creates jobs, drives investment and supports trade for the benefit of communities both domestically and overseas.

“As Policy Chairman and leader of the City of London Corporation, I will be hard at work with my delegation at MIPIM, to ensure that everyone knows that the City is the world’s most innovative, inclusive and sustainable business ecosystem as well as an attractive place to invest, work, live, learn and visit.”

Chairman of the City of London Corporation Planning and Transportation Committee, Shravan Joshi, said:

““The City of London is a global economic powerhouse, delivering a centre of collaboration and innovation for the hundreds of thousands of people who work here, as well as a destination for visitors and tourists who come to experience our unparalleled culture and heritage.”

“Our Planning Division is solution focussed and offers developers and investors clear, consistent advice in a constructive and co-operative environment. That is why we were voted both National and London Planning Authority of the Year for 2023.”