The London Tall Buildings Survey 2022 has now been published and provides an in-depth analysis of London’s tall buildings pipeline. It is brilliant to see more than 88,000 new homes are estimated across the pipeline which is just under two years’ worth of housing need based on GLA requirements. In addition 18.55 million sq ft of new office spaces will be provided with 41% of it being in the City of London. These homes and office spaces are to come from the 341 tall buildings which currently have planning permission and a further 71 which have been approved at Planning Committee. 

The survey points to a record level of planning approvals being granted last year - up 26 per cent from 2020. Tower Hamlets, home to Canary Wharf, takes the lead as the London borough with the most tall buildings in the pipeline, with a total of 96 buildings. The survey further provides analysis of the tall buildings policy implemented by each London borough and how they accord with the London Plan, signifying that most boroughs do have tall building policies either in place, or ‘emerging’ . 

You may then be asking yourself, how tall is tall? There is no exact answer, with the survey considering a tall building to be 20 storeys or above but acknowledging that the London Plan (2021) generally considers ‘tall’ to be six storeys or 18 metres. Of those emerging tall building policies, most go beyond the London Plan in terms of what is defined as a tall.

The skyline has changed so much in the near ten years that I have lived in London and it will be great to see it continue to develop.

For further insight on the changing planning landscape underpinning the development of tall buildings in London, see this article, by my colleague and Head of Planning, Victoria Du Croz.

The London Tall Buildings Survey is an annual publication from New London Architecture (NLA), developed with research partner Knight Frank.