Construction value on record-setting pace

Pandemic, what pandemic? Fuelled by a booming residential sector, London is on track to set a construction value record in 2020

DESPITE THE MANY economic challenges associated with the pandemic, London’s booming housing market is leading the city to a what appears will be a record-setting building boom in 2020.

According to a brief released by Peter Kokkoros, London’s deputy chief building official, by the end of October 3,370 permits had been issued with a construction value of $1.17 billion. It is the fifth consecutive year in which the city has eclipsed the $1-billion permit value mark.

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The London record for construction value for all building permits is $1.4 billion, set in 2014. It is expected that the city will surpass that total by year’s end.

Last year’s permit value was also healthy, at $1.37 billion, spurred primarily by commercial building projects, including the $330-million Maple Leafs Foods fresh poultry-processing facility that is under construction on Wilton Grove Road.

This year, it’s residential construction driving the numbers. By the end of October, permits had been issued for 2,773 apartment units, surpassing the number of new units created in all of 2019 and 2018. Permits for single and semi-detached homes are also setting records, with 760 issued by the end of October. In 2019, 688 home permits were issues; 2018’s total was 656.