New residential accommodation continues to dominate construction activity in Birmingham, according to an annual report published today.
The latest Regional Crane Survey said 18 new projects broke ground in the city during 2022, 13 of which were residential.
It added that the number of new homes coming onto the market broke existing records, with 2,398 homes delivered in 2022 against the previous record of 2,072 set in 2020.
A total of 32 live residential sites are now under construction across Birmingham, 13 of which are in the Jewellery Quarter, the most of any city district.
The remaining five new starts in 2022 comprised two office projects and one each for student housing, hotels and education.
Read more: See last year's Birmingham Crane Survey here
These latest figures mirror construction activity in the city in 2021, which also saw 18 new starts, 14 of which were residential.
The Crane Survey, now in its 21st year, examines the level of construction activity in Birmingham and three other UK cities across a range of sectors including offices, residential, hotels, retail, education and student accommodation.
Among the projects to begin work during 2022 were the Glasswater Locks in Eastside, containing more than 700 residential units, the Three Chamberlain Square office block at the Paradise development and University College Birmingham's new construction skills centre in Charlotte Street.
Deloitte said the office space under construction bounced back with a 40 per cent increase, rising to 866,969 sq ft last year compared with 616,661 sq ft in 2021, but these were perhaps unsurprisingly still below pre-pandemic levels of one million sq ft.
The overall number of schemes under construction increased by just over a quarter in 2022, up to 43 compared to 34 in 2021. There were no new developments within the leisure sector and, for the fourth consecutive year, no standalone retail schemes were started.
The other cities covered by the survey are Belfast, Leeds and Manchester which registered nine, 22 and 25 new project starts during 2022 respectively.
Deloitte's Midlands senior partner Juliet Halfhead said: "2022 was a phenomenal year for the city. Not only did it seamlessly deliver the Commonwealth Games to a global audience, it also showcased the very best of the city and what it has to offer which is reflected in this year's report.
"It is time to be bold and bullish about the future. Development confidence is a key indicator for economic health and, despite current headwinds and market uncertainties over the last few years, construction in the city has remained resilient.
"Although new schemes breaking ground in 2022 remained on a par with 2021, the levels of under-construction activity is up a third, signalling three years of growth.
"This positive outlook is echoed across both the residential and office market - both have dominated development activity within the city over the past few years and this is set to continue. While opportunities for new build and office regeneration projects are becoming rarer, the pipeline looks steady.
"Developers and investors continue to compete for key, strategic sites as demand for grade A office space continues at pace with occupiers looking for flexible office space to accommodate hybrid working patterns."
