LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Helical said in an update on Friday that it had made strong progress across its London development pipeline during the first half of its financial year, as construction advanced on three major office projects and pre-development work accelerated at two additional sites.
Chief executive Matthew Bonning-Snook said the period had been "characterised by significant activity" across the group's pipeline, with live projects at 100 New Bridge Street, Brettenham House and 10 King William Street all on track for completion in 2026.

"Good progress has also been made on the future pipeline with enabling works commencing at Paddington prior to the site acquisition in January 2026 and further extensive design development work being undertaken at Southwark ahead of construction commencing on the PBSA scheme in 2026," he said.

At 100 New Bridge Street, all external structural works have now been completed on the 194,500 square foot redevelopment, with delivery of State Street Corporation's new headquarters scheduled for April 2026.

The £333m forward sale of the scheme, representing £166.5m for Helical's share, will complete at that point.

Refurbishment continues at Brettenham House, which would deliver around 128,000 square feet of prime office space overlooking the Thames, while 10 King William Street had reached level six, with topping out expected in December and practical completion due at the end of 2026.

Preparatory works had meanwhile begun at Helical's planned Paddington development ahead of formal site acquisition early next year, while negotiations were progressing for the forward funding of its 429-studio purpose-built student accommodation scheme in Southwark, where contracts are expected to be exchanged later this year.

Bonning-Snook said terms had been agreed with Places for London to forward fund the PBSA element and with the London Borough of Southwark to purchase the affordable housing block, with legal agreements expected "in the coming weeks".

The chief executive added that market conditions remained favourable for prime central London offices.

"With 465,000 square feet of new best-in-class office space completing in 2026, we are encouraged to see the dual dynamics of increased active occupational demand and the scarcity of new office supply driving strong rental growth within the best-connected London sub-markets, where our pipeline is strategically located," he said.

"Whilst there remains uncertainty in the wider macro-economic environment, we anticipate this letting momentum continuing and presenting the opportunity for Helical to realise strong returns for shareholders."

Bonning-Snook also noted improving sentiment among investors towards the office sector, saying there had been "increased interest from global capital, which should translate into higher transaction volumes in the near term."

Helical said it was continuing to perform well against its sustainability targets, retaining Gold status from the EPRA Sustainability Best Practice Recommendations and achieving strong GRESB scores of 88/100 for its standing investments and 94/100 for its development portfolio.

During the period, its projects at 10 King William Street and Brettenham House both achieved design-stage BREEAM Outstanding certification, with the former also securing WELL pre-certification and a NABERS Design for Performance rating.

"These outcomes support our continued commitment to drive sustainability forward on all our developments and demonstrate what is possible when sustainability is embedded as a project priority from the outset," the company said.

At 0835 BST, shares in Helical were up 0.44% at 206.91p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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