Skip to content

No new office blocks built in Belfast last year

John Campbell
BBC News NI economics & business Editor
Getty Images Aerial photo of Belfast City Skyline Cityscape Northern Ireland. The M3 bridge over the River Lagan, the Harland and Wolff cranes and the SSE Arena can all be seen in the shot.Getty Images
2024 was the first year in almost a decade that no new-build offices were completed

No new office blocks were completed in Belfast city centre last year, an annual survey of major construction projects has found.

The Deloitte crane survey monitors building activity across offices, residential, hotels, retail, education and student housing, and is seen as a barometer of developer sentiment and future plans.

It was the first year in almost a decade that no new-build offices were completed.

Construction has started on a new headquarters office for the Kainos IT firm, the first new-build office start since 2020.

The office market has been highly uncertain since the rise of working from home during the pandemic.

Some businesses and public sector organisations have cut back on their office space.

Student housing

For example, the Northern Ireland Civil Service is shrinking its office estate by 40%.

The survey pointed to overall muted activity in central Belfast development last year.

Only five major new projects broke ground during the year, compared with seven in 2023 and nine in 2022.

A total of 17 major schemes were either under construction or completed in 2024, slightly down on the total of 20 recorded in 2023.

This is the fewest number of active developments and new starts since the survey began in 2016.

Student housing continued to be the most active sector with three new accommodation projects representing 1,224 bed spaces under construction.

The new Belfast Grand Central Station building with parts under construction. An Ulsterbus drives along the side of a building site within the grounds of the new station.
The report notes the most significant project completed in 2024 was Belfast Grand Central Station

The report notes that the most significant project completed in 2024 was Grand Central Station, the largest integrated transport hub on the island of Ireland.

Colin Mounstephen, director at Deloitte in Belfast, said the most important scheme currently under construction is the Loft Lines build-to-rent development in Titanic Quarter.

He said it would "act as a proof of concept for the wider market".

He added that housing might provide a solution for the controversial TriBeCa scheme in the city centre which the current owners have failed to develop.

"There is a lot of potential tied up in Tribeca and it could have a very positive impact on building the city centre residential population and improving the general atmosphere of the city, if it can be realised," he said.