London Property Alliance’s report, The Cycle Storage Gap, provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of cycle parking demand across central London’s office market. Drawing on evidence from more than one million sqm of commercial development across 21 modern buildings in the City of London, West End, Canary Wharf and key central London boroughs, the research examines whether current London Plan cycle parking standards reflect changing commuting patterns and how offices are now used in practice.
Featuring surveys and analysis undertaken by Velocity, the study covers modern office buildings accommodating more than 32,000 employees and providing nearly 9,000 cycle parking spaces. It finds that around 76% of existing spaces were vacant at peak times and that, when adjusted to current London Plan standards, around 84% of cycle parking spaces would remain unused. Average employee density was one employee per 19 sq m NIA, while average cycle mode share was 6.5%, well below the assumptions underpinning current policy.
The report highlights how the 2021 London Plan’s floorspace-based standards have driven excessive cycle parking provision, increasing construction costs, embodied carbon and pressure on development viability, particularly where additional basement space is required. It supports proposed Draft London Plan reforms, including a move towards employee-based standards and greater flexibility where full provision would result in disproportionate costs or loss of lettable floorspace.
Informed by the Alliance’s Cycling Working Group, this research has been developed with insight drawn from City Property Association and Westminster Property Association members and supporters, including those who allowed us to survey their buildings or shared their expertise more broadly. Contributors include BGRE, BNP Paribas AM Alts, British Land, CWG, Derwent London, GPE, Landsec, LaSalle IM, Momentum Transport Consultancy, Native Land, Newmark, Nuveen Real Estate, Velocity Transport Planning and YardNine.
Read the report here
