A stellar year for development in Birmingham

News
20/02/2018

  • Over 2,500 new residential units under construction
  • Office development surpasses one million sq ft for second consecutive year
  • Student housing schemes up a third, delivering 1,365 more bed-spaces
  • 334 hotel rooms completed, highest volume since 2013

Birmingham is continuing to maintain its record-level of development across the city centre, in what is undoubtedly a new era of re-development and re-purposing for the area.


The latest Deloitte Real Estate Birmingham Crane Survey, now in its 16th year, shows construction levels remain resilient with 24 new starts breaking ground in 2017.


This includes four new office schemes adding to Birmingham’s office development pipeline of 1.4 million sq ft. Confidence in developing speculative office space has grown as pre-letting activity continues with 49 per cent of space under construction already let.


“Over the past three years Birmingham has witnessed a resurgence in development and whilst many commentators expected to see a downturn in activity due to political and economic uncertainties, it is quite the opposite,”

says Edwin Bray, partner at Deloitte Real Estate and author of the crane survey.

“Investment in transport links and the much-anticipated HS2 have led developers to be more bullish in their approach and seize the opportunity to significantly refurbish and redevelop existing stock. This has led to an increase in speculative builds such as the office scheme at Snowhill.

“The city is quite rightly capitalising on its position and this renewed confidence has been further bolstered with the election of the new mayor, the promise of Devo 2 and the forthcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games. HMRC’s 25-year lease at Arena Central echoes the confidence of businesses investing in modern, flexible workspace for its employees with Birmingham the destination of choice.”


The city’s residential construction has amplified with 13 new residential schemes starting construction in 2017, up 30 per cent on the previous year, and set to deliver 2,500 new units in 2018 alone.


“The confidence in the city centre residential market highlighted in last year’s report has gathered pace and we are now seeing not just competition to secure viable sites, but also a race to complete to meet the demands of first time buyers and investors,”

says Bray.

“At present there are 4,078 residential units under construction across the city, with several re-designing Birmingham’s skyline. The 31-storey apartment block at the junction of Sheepcote Street is the tallest new building in the city, but this will be eclipsed by the 42-storey building at 2one2 Broad Street.”


For the fourth successive year there has been considerable development activity in student accommodation with four new schemes - a positive sign that Birmingham is becoming a place to live, work and learn.


The hotel market in Birmingham has fared well in 2017, with occupation rates remaining high (75%). One new scheme started development in the past 12 months and the research also showed 334 new hotel rooms were completed in 2017, the highest volume since 2013.


However, although construction levels remain at a record-high for office development and there is a positive upturn in both residential and student accommodation, by contrast activity levels involving the development of education space, medical related development and research facilities have fallen back.


For the second year running, activity in retail has also been subdued with many developers focusing on large mixed-use developments.


“The construction industry has battled with rising costs and dwindling skills, but Birmingham is witnessing a renaissance and is delivering. The development pipeline is healthy and what is exciting is the breadth of the development spread throughout the city,”

adds Bray.

“One of the most exciting prospects yet to come is Smithfield which will provide 3 million sq ft mixed commercial space and 2,000 new homes. Couple this with sites such as New Monaco where another 1,000 apartments are planned and the outlook for redevelopment and regeneration is transformational.”