Homes crisis forces suburbs to rise up with skyscraper boom

THE capital’s suburbs are in the grip of an unprecedented skyscraper boom, with more than half of the towers winning planning approval last year sited in outer London boroughs.

An annual survey shows that a record 98 tall buildings were given the green light by local authorities, up by more than a third on 2020, with 56 per cent of those in outer London boroughs.

The ninth audit of buildings over 20 storeys high reveals how London’s housing crisis has forced councils to approve ever taller residential buildings in suburban neighbourhoods to meet their targets.

There are now 228 tall buildings in the pipeline in outer London, up 6 per cent from 216 last year.

By contrast, the pipeline in inner London fell year-on-year to 355 tall buildings. As a result, outer London boroughs are now accounting for 39 per cent of the tall-building pipeline, up from 37 per cent in 2020 and 36 per cent in 2019.

The trend has caused tensions in areas where residents say skyscrapers are out of keeping with the typically low-rise housing of the suburbs.

There are now 88 tall buildings in zones three and four and 41 in zone five. Out of London’s 33 local authority areas, 26 have a tall-building pipeline.

Newham’s pipeline of 46 tall buildings is the most of any outer London borough followed by Ealing (39), Brent (31), Croydon (28) and Barnet (27).

But according to New London Architecture, which publishes the London Tall Buildings Survey with property consultancy Knight Frank, there are also early indications of a slowdown in the skyscraper rush, with applications for new buildings down 13 per cent.