London property doubles in density as supply shortfall constrains

London’s property developers are doubling the number of properties in their projects as inexhaustible demand continues to strain the supply, according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).
In the five years to March 2011 101,870 homes were completed at a density of 100 residences per hectare. Comparatively the 68,870 houses built the previous decade the figure was only 50 dwellings per hectare.

Jon Neale, residential research director of JLL, said: “Land will become a constraining factor.”
“The increase in density is partly driven by broader economic and social trends, namely the greater desire for central London property. The only way this can be accommodated is by increasing height and density.”

Neale added that expansion in the city will be determined by whether green-belt land on the outskirts of London continues to be protected.

“London’s size has been fixed by policy and it cannot grow outward,” he said. “We’ve been resistant for generations to the idea that cities could expand into precious green fields. Ultimately, though, that is the only way to increase land supply.”

http://www.opp.org.uk/news-article.php?id=6229