City unveils how skyline could look in early 2030s

The City of London Corporation has unveiled an image of what the Square Mile’s skyline could look like in six years’ time.

The image shows what the City’s financial district will look like from above, once all of the buildings that have either been granted planning permission, or are already under construction, are completed.

The City said it had a record year of planning approvals in 2025 and that its planning committee had seen its busiest January since 2019.

According to JLL, vacancy rates in the City core stood at just 4.4% in Q4 last year, while the new build vacancy was less than 1% with the Square Mile’s largest office building, 22 Bishopsgate, now fully occupied.

The City said that more than 500,000sq m of space was granted planning last year with around half of this amount on site.

Its most recent high-profile planning approval was last week when it gave the green light to Network Rail’s scheme to revamp Liverpool Street station.

Chris Hayward, policy chairman at the City of London, said: “Record demand for high‑quality, amenity‑rich office space is reinforcing the City’s position as one of the world’s most resilient and attractive business districts, with vacancy in the City core continuing to fall, prime supply remaining exceptionally tight, and leasing activity reaching its strongest annual performance since 2019.”