Spring Budget 2024: Is levelling up coming to Canary Wharf? Hunt injects £243m into new homes in banking district
Canary Wharf is set to receive a multi-million-pound cash injection to build more homes in the capital’s banking district.
As part of the Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced he would pour over £242m into developing homes in Canary Wharf as well as nearby Barking Riverside.
Nearly 8,000 homes will be built across the two London areas, alongside transforming the Wharf into “a new hub for life science companies”, Hunt said.
The Chancellor said he was “building more homes for young people”, as he announced the measure.
Karim Fatehi MBE, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said: “We are pleased to see the Chancellor’s plans for a life sciences centre at Canary Wharf and agree with the Chancellor’s general sentiment that both productivity in our economy and provision of affordable housing must improve.”
Canary Wharf has been navigating an identity crisis ever since the shock exit from one of its most iconic tenants HSBC left many questioning the attractiveness of the docklands hub.
Last year the bank said it would not renew its lease which expires in 2027 at its landmark tower in the region.
Office vaccines in the area are also expected to rise 16.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024 up from 15 per cent in the same period last year.
This trails ahead of the 12.1 per cent figure predicted to hit the City by the end of this year.
The region has not been immune to the pressure placed on the commercial property sector as high interest rates and a push to home working have lowered some office values.
As part of the district’s evolution, a number of life sciences firms are planning to move into the area.
A leading firm tracking infectious diseases, hVIVO, has announced plans to open a new clinical trial facility in Canary Wharf later this year.
Late last year, Canary Wharf Group and Kadans Science Partner were also granted planning permission for a new 23-storey life sciences building in the East London area.