The country’s leading luxury house builder said it was on track to make another £1.5bn in pre-tax profit by April 2018.

But reservations are down 20% on this time last year despite site visitor levels and enquiries remaining at the same level as 2015.

Berkeley said: ‘What is increasingly clear is that Government policy, which has been helpful outside London, has had a negative effect on the capital.

“Transaction taxes are now too high and this is restricting both mobility in the second hand market and the pace of supply and delivery of new homes in London and the South East. 

“There is also a tension between the national policy on Starter Homes and the London Mayor’s ambition to build more affordable housing, while the very high rates of the Community Infrastructure Levy adopted by local authorities now pose a significant threat to development viability.

“While these challenges persist, and the barriers to entry for small builders remain high, London will fall well short of its targets for new homes.

“This is not just a problem for business and ordinary people in the capital but for the country as a whole.  

“London is the engine of our national economy and the principal driver of fiscal revenues.  

“So this is not just a question of housing Londoners – important though that is. It poses a risk to deficit reduction and the prosperity of the whole country.”

The tower will be fitted with nine high-speed passenger lifts

At over 235m, the 67-storey residential tower will rank as the tallest in the UK and Western Europe once complete in 2020.

Above-ground demolition works at the site at the western end of the north dock in Canary Wharf have already been undertaken.

Piling for the tower will begin in January with the tower scheduled to reach the halfway point in height during the summer of 2018.

The distinctly-shaped tower has been designed by HOK around a clover or orchid shaped footprint to maximise views for each of the 861 flats that will be mostly for private sale.

Wenhao QIAN, Managing Director of Greenland (UK) Investment, said: “This important launch reflects the confidence that Greenland Group continues to have in both the London economy and the London property market.

“We believe that there is always a demand for best in class property assets that offer a high quality, bespoke, designed and unique product in a prime location.

“In our view Spire London fulfils these criteria, and we believe there will be significant demand for the apartments within this tower from both the UK and overseas.”

The basement runs to a depth of just 11.7m as the site sits above Crossrail running tunnels, although all piling will be outside the Crossrail exclusion zone. Affordable housing will be included in the western wing of the building.

Around half the building facade is to be fitted with vision glass and the remainder will be fitted with highly-insulated metal panel backed glass curtain wall known as “shadow boxes” to give the building the appearance of being fully glazed from the exterior while reducing solar gain.

The construction phase will employ over 900 construction workers during a 55-month programme.

The house builder is reassuring subcontractors that it is business as usual across its sites.

Bovis Homes said: “Our production programmes are being maintained to deliver an appropriate level of work in progress going into 2017 and we have reassured our subcontractor base with the positive message that we are continuing with our production across all geographical regions.”

The firm added that it was seeing “reservation rates improving after a short term slow down in July.”

Chief Executive David Ritchie said: “Whilst it is too early to judge the impact of the EU Referendum and the Bank’s monetary policy response on the UK housing market, the underlying market fundamentals for UK housing remain positive. 

“We have been pleased with the resilient level of interest shown by potential home buyers contacting us.  

“Our robust balance sheet, with debt lower than last year, means that we are well positioned to continue to take advantage of prime land opportunities at potentially higher returns.  

“Overall, we remain confident in our strategy to deliver long-term growth in shareholder returns.”

Half year results to June 30 show pre-tax profits rose to £61.7m from £53.8m last time as turnover increased to £412.8m from £350.7m.

The scheme has detailed planning consent for a leisure quarter in the town centre with 75,000 sq ft of retail space anchored by a multi-screen Picturehouse cinema and 161 new homes.

Ealing Council chose Land Securities to develop the site two years ago.

Riccardo Mai, Head of Development Management at Land Securities, said: “Land Securities is proud of the work we have done to facilitate development of the Filmworks project and bring a cinema back to Ealing.

“We are delighted to have now secured an agreement with St George, a company with unquestionable track record of delivering major developments”

The development will transform an under-used and part-derelict site into a new leisure and retail quarter in the heart of Ealing town centre.

Michael Bryn-Jones, Managing Director of St George PLC said: “We are delighted to continue our investment in Ealing with the acquisition of Ealing Filmworks. It will complement the success of Dickens Yard delivering a much wanted cinema, fantastic new shops and restaurants in the heart of Ealing town centre, as well as high quality homes.”

British Land reported a strong performance in the run-up to the referendum in a trading update to the City this morning.

But chief executive Chris Grigg added: “It is too early to properly assess the impact of the referendum result on the markets in which we operate but we do expect some occupiers and investors to take a more cautious approach.

“British Land has entered this period of post-referendum uncertainty in a robust position. We have a strong, resilient business with a clear strategy.”

The £500m scheme has been nicknamed the Toblerone towers because of the triangular shape of the main blocks ranging up in height from eight to 40 floors.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill the buildings will provide a mix of 500,000 sq ft of office space and 400 homes.

Developer London & Regional Properties must first demolish Department of Health offices at the 1993 built Skipton House, London South Bank University’s Perry Library and the Keyworth Street Hostel for homeless men.

The developer has pledged to construct affordable housing to the value of £16.8m on several sites in the close vicinity.

Arup is the main structural and facade engineer with Norman Disney & Young deliver M&E design.

Plans include new subterranean theatre and music venue

Because of the scale of the proposed scheme the London Mayor will have the final say on the development plan.

Geoffrey Springer, head of development at London & Regional said: “We are proposing a significant investment in the regeneration of Elephant & Castle, which will celebrate the area’s cultural heritage.

“This will be an iconic development, providing new cultural and community space and, most importantly, new jobs and homes. The development will also deliver new open space and a vastly improved public realm, strengthening the ongoing regeneration of Elephant and Castle.”

The pair met with the Home Builders Federation on Thursday in a bid to quell industry fears in the wake of the Brexit vote.

HBF members are reporting that all indicators show reservations and sales rates have not been affected by last week’s referendum.

House builders also restated their commitment to driving up supply and increasing construction of new homes.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark, said: “The need for new homes continues as does the Government’s commitment to getting them built and extending home ownership to anyone that aspires to own a home of their own.”

Peter Andrew, Deputy Chairman at the Home Builders Federation, said: “We were very pleased to hear the Secretary of State reaffirm the Government’s commitment to increasing housing supply.

“We welcome his reiteration of support for successful programmes like the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme which is underpinning demand and helping tens of thousands of buyers each year to take their first steps on the housing ladder.

“House builders remain confident in the underlying level of demand for housing and will continue to deliver the homes the country needs.”

The 33 floor Duncan House scheme on Stratford High Street will rise to over 100m and joins a cluster of tall buildings in the area.

Mark Watkin Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Watkin Jones, said:  “We are delighted to have secured planning consent for this latest scheme in our pipeline, which builds our visibility around our business model.  

“We expect to be on site towards the end of 2016 and complete the scheme in 2019.”

The proposed redevelopment of Duncan House has been designed by Hodder + Partners and will deliver 511 beds, 44 residential units and 30,000 square feet of academic space.

Watkin Jones is in advanced negotiations with University of London and their funding partners, to forward sell the student part of the Duncan House scheme as per the group’s business model. 

The residential units will be sold in a separate transaction by Watkin Jones.

The tower will rise to 37 floors, which will be a more modest office building compared to the scale of some of the more ambitious plans unveiled for the Square Mile.

Architect Make has designed the 183m tower that will boast a public galley with views over Leadenhall Market.

The existing seven storey building on the 1 Leadenhall site, known as Leadenhall Court will be demolished over six months once approval is obtained.

Under present plans work could start on the new tower as early as March 2018.

Brookfield has gone out to public consultation with the plans ahead of submitting for planning later in the Summer in the hope of gaining approval at the end of this year.