Office construction in London has increased by 18% over the past six months, according to new data from Deloitte.

The latest London Office Crane Survey shows that construction in the capital has now returned to peak levels of 2009.

Overall, 11.1m sq ft of space has been under construction across central London over the past six months.

26 new starts to office projects have been recorded, injecting a further three million sq ft of work into the pipeline.

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In addition, there has been a 21% rise in let space under construction, while a rise in demolition levels (6.4m sq ft) indicates more construction work is imminent.

Matthews, head of research at Deloitte Real Estate, said: "We expect that just 3.3m sq ft of space will complete in 2015, the lowest amount for three years. Looking ahead though, the development pipeline for 2017-19 is filling up as work commences on new schemes.

"We have also recorded a further 24% upsurge in sites being demolished and readied for construction, meaning early indications are that space completed in these years will exceed the long-run average."

(LM/CD)