Record-breaking 541 skyscrapers proposed for London as planning approvals soar

The number of new tall buildings planned for London has gone up to 541 thanks to a surge in planning approvals, according to research from New London Architecture.The New London Architecture (NLA) London Tall Buildings Survey 2018 reports that tall buildings are becoming the new normal for the UK capital.The annual survey, released this week, recorded a six per cent rise in the number of buildings over 20 storeys planned for the city since last year.The rate of approvals is up 14 per cent in 2018, despite the number planning applications for tall buildings dropping by four per cent. Only eight tall buildings were refused permission at the planning committee stage, the report reveals.The research reveals that only 25 tall buildings completed in 2018 – just half of the number that were scheduled to. NLA puts this down to skills shortages or problems with financial viability. Over-optimistic timelines were also to blame.However this is still an increase on the 18 that completed in 201. Due to these pushbacks, up to 76 new tall buildings could complete in 2019, adding to the 360 tall buildings already standing in the city.The data shows that focus has shifted to the outer rings of London’s 33 boroughs. The majority of tall buildings are still planned for inner-city boroughs, but areas such as Barking and Dagenham, Brent and Ealing have seen a marked increase in the number of tall buildings planned.Majority of tall buildings planned are residentialOne challenge raised by tall buildings is the crisis of affordable housing in London.Residential accounts for 90 per cent of the tall buildings planned for London. NLA estimates they will deliver 110,000 new homes – nearly twice the mayor’s annual target of 60,000.But there is currently no data on how much of that will be affordable, or even owner-occupied and not part of the build-to-rent sector.Backlash against unaffordable housing developmentsTall buildings have come under particular scrutiny in major cities where the race for height isn’t delivering the kinds of homes that people, particularly those with families, want to live in.Towers full of high-end, single occupancy apartments being sold off plan to investors fail to meet the needs of most residents.