Oliver Knight, companion and head of residential improvement analysis, Knight Frank
The South Financial institution emerges as a focus for prime supply amid provide disruptions elsewhere
New properties reshape the character of cities; a single daring improvement can shift perceptions and redefine neighbourhood boundaries.
Nowhere has this been extra evident than in Prime Central London, the place for greater than a decade builders have steadily prolonged the perimeters of historic enclaves equivalent to Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia. Whereas rich consumers nonetheless gravitate to those areas, they now have actual competitors from Bayswater, Bloomsbury, Marylebone, Fitzrovia and the South Financial institution, the place regeneration, cultural cachet and new improvement are reshaping the prime map.
The pandemic and subsequent spike in rates of interest accelerated this pattern. Development dropped sharply throughout a lot of the capital as viability pressures and regulatory burdens mounted. Builders had been constrained by a mix of persistent construct price inflation, labour shortages and complicated regulatory frameworks – you may learn extra on this in Knight Frank’s newest Residential Growth Land Index. Fireplace security laws additional delayed begins, particularly on high-rise city websites, limiting the pipeline of latest improvement in central areas.
Provide is changing into tighter in a few of London’s housing hotspots, however a handful of prime areas escaped the worst of those obstacles – both as a result of key developments secured planning and broke floor earlier than the pandemic, or as a result of their design averted essentially the most restrictive hurdles, equivalent to fireplace security laws on constructing peak. The South Financial institution is one in every of them; key schemes equivalent to Opus, The Edit, and SEVEN at Southbank Place all secured momentum early, drawing in prime purchasers whereas there have been fewer schemes underway elsewhere.
Southbank’s shift
Molior knowledge for all the capital exhibits the diploma to which these challenges have distorted supply. Simply 1,210 models began on website in London throughout Q1 2025 – the bottom quarterly complete since Q1 2009. Of the 33 native authorities throughout London, 23 recorded zero begins. The longer term provide pipeline additionally appears skinny: solely 7,100 personal properties are anticipated to finish within the two years from 2027 to 2028, based mostly on the schemes at the moment on website. Sixteen boroughs are set to ship no completions in any respect throughout that interval.
Prime boroughs are among the many worst hit. Within the boroughs of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, simply 326 new properties broke floor in the course of the yr to Q1 2025. That stands in distinction to Southwark, residence to the South Financial institution, the place 1,245 properties began throughout the identical interval, bringing the dimensions wanted to additional embed its standing as a residential neighbourhood.
Probably the most seen signal of Southbank’s shift is Opus, a 50-storey residential tower being developed by Native Land as a part of the bigger Bankside Yards regeneration venture. Positioned yards from the River Thames, the constructing is one in every of solely three 20+ storey residential towers at the moment beneath building in Central London – the others are at Chelsea Waterfront and Southbank Place. Undertaking gross sales have surpassed £100m, Native Land introduced in June.
Pricing at Opus signifies a willingness amongst some consumers to pay a premium for specification and views, with greater per sq. foot values on the higher flooring that include panoramic views. This positions Opus on the higher finish of the marketplace for new-build properties within the space, reflecting its position inside the broader South Financial institution improvement pipeline. Many consumers are home professionals, usually working in finance or legislation, with curiosity supported by the world’s proximity to cultural establishments and key central areas equivalent to Covent Backyard and Soho.
Branded residences
Mount Anvil’s The Edit gives a smaller-scale various to high-rise residing, with a give attention to wellness and modern design. The scheme contains way of life options equivalent to ice baths and infrared saunas and is positioned lower than 400 metres from the Tate Gallery.
The South Financial institution was arguably cemented as a chief London location as early as 2023, when the Mandarin Oriental Lodge Group confirmed plans for a brand new lodge and branded residences at Bankside Yards. The 70 properties will sit above 171 guestrooms in a standalone constructing. The venture is a part of a rising branded residences sector that’s gaining traction globally.
Proof so far of £psqft values in Bankside Yards set a brand new benchmark for a comparatively latest addition to Prime Central London, but it surely’s not sudden given the power of the model, the riverside location, and the cultural significance of the encompassing space. As supply in conventional prime markets slows beneath the stress of construct prices and complicated regulation, the South Financial institution has taken benefit of its early momentum. Its trajectory highlights a delicate however necessary shift within the geography of London’s prime market – one pushed as a lot by provide dynamics as by evolving purchaser preferences.
