Construction opportunities build across the East of England

East of England construction activity is set to strengthen as planning approvals increase across housing, offices, industrial, and leisure sectors, creating a growing pipeline of project opportunities.

Based on recent planning approvals, there is a bright outlook for key sectors in the region that are reliant on privately funded work.

The July edition of the Glenigan Construction Review shows a healthy rise in underlying planning approvals for housing, industrial, offices, retail and hotel & leisure sectors, which all bode well for work prospects in the region.

In the office sector, the East of England ranked as the best performer of any UK region in the second quarter after a 36-fold increase in underlying planning approvals compared to last year. Nationally, it accounted for 41% of all approvals.

The development of new space for the thriving cluster of life sciences companies around Cambridge is a key driver of new construction activity.

One major scheme where outline plans have been granted is the £170 million Cambridge Discovery Campus, a development of offices and laboratories on the site of a former waste treatment facility south of the city. The scheme, which is at the pre-tender stage, involves almost 32,000 sq m of new space (Project ID: 15110023).

Meanwhile, office construction workload is also set for a major boost following the announcement last month by pharmaceutical giant GSK that it plans to build a global R&D headquarters in Cambridge as part of a £400 million investment in the UK.

New data centre capacity is also generating new office sector work in the region. At Camro Plus, Data Centre at Ely, north of Cambridge (pictured), work on a £100 million scheme of four buildings across 65,000 sq m is due to start this autumn and run for 37 months (Project ID: 08033245).

Strong demand for housing

New jobs being created across the area’s thriving tech sector are helping generate strong demand for new housing in the region.

With a near-doubling (up 92%) in the value of underlying housing planning approvals in the second quarter compared to last year, the East of England accounted for the largest share (18%) of new permissions of all UK regions.

One significant housing scheme in the region that recently won reserved matters approval is the £400 million Bourn Airfield project, a new mixed-use village in South Cambridgeshire comprising around 3,500 new homes along with commercial, retail and hotel space (Project ID: 15404032).

Meanwhile, private housebuilders are pressing ahead with medium-sized developments across the East of England which will appeal to London commuters. Bellway Homes (North London) is starting work this summer on a £32.9 million scheme for up to 233 homes at Radwinter Garden at Saffron Walden near Essex, where work is expected to run for 17 months (Project ID: 21150282).

Some major industrial schemes are also set to reinforce construction work opportunities in the East of England. In all, planning approvals for industrial projects in the region rose 161% in the second quarter compared to a year earlier.

One project with tenders being invited is a £30.7 million food storage & distribution facility, the FTG Ardleigh Facility near Colchester in Essex, where work is due to start in spring next year (Project ID: 20269847).

Larger industrial schemes in the pipeline include the £400 million Luton Gateway Park on the site of the former Vauxhall factory. Outline plans have been approved, and site clearance is underway with construction due to start next year (Project ID: 25573741).

Surge in hotel & leisure work  

Work on a growing number of hotel & leisure developments is also set to get underway in the East of England. Planning approvals for projects in the sector rose almost fivefold (373%) in the region in the second quarter, compared to a year earlier.

One project with planning approval and a start date this summer is an £8.04 million extension to Pendley Manor Hotel, in Tring, Hertfordshire. Work on the scheme is due to run for 13 months and will involve over 2,600 sq m of space (Project ID: 25367134).

Meanwhile, hotel & leisure construction activity is set to surge in the region as work gets underway on the huge £5 billion Universal United Kingdom Resort theme park to be built in a former Stewartby brickworks in Bedfordshire. Bovis, McAlpine, Wates and Morgan Sindall are amongst the contractors on the scheme where enabling works are underway, with work set to run until 2031 (Project ID: 23398445).

More retail-related construction work is also in the pipeline in the East of England; planning approvals in the sector doubled in the second quarter compared to a year earlier.

M&S is among the major supermarket chains that are investing in its retail estate in the region. Work on one of its larger projects, a new £31 million supermarket at Copdock Interchange outside Ipswich, is due to start this autumn and run for 12 months (Project ID: 25355008).