As the current residential housing shortage continues throughout the UK, the relaxed regulations on planning permission to convert office buildings into desirable residential homes is growing, ‘permitted development rights’. Although these conversions have mostly been seen in London, Portsmouth and Chester have started to see these popular conversions taking place.
New guidelines were issued by The Government last year extending relaxed planning permission on larger, single story residential extensions until May 2019. They did however, add that moving forward, those who already have prior permission will have to complete the ‘change of use’ within a three year period.
To March last year there was an 11% increase in housing stock in England (April 2015 – March 2016) according to Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) figures. Traditional new build properties rose by 8,860units to163,940 but what we are really interested in noting is that the ‘change of use’ to properties figure was 30,600 new units compared to 20,650 the year before – of these 12,824 were offices converted into flats.
Permitted development rights have had a multifaceted impact on London’s economy – we note some of the key consequences below, as outlined by ‘The Impact of Permitted Development Rights for Office to Residential Conversions, a London Councils briefing’
– Loss of key office accommodation
– Loss of occupied space: under the current permitted development rights there is no distinction between vacant and occupied office accommodation, and there is no consideration for loss of key office space
– Office rent increases: some areas of London have noted that the rights have had an impact on land values for scarce office stock, threatening office redevelopment and refurbishment even in areas where there is clear demand.
– Visibility of local office markets reduced; loss of accommodation is resulting in a loss of visibility and viability of economic centres.
So, in reality, what does this mean for businesses?
If local commercial property is being converted, then businesses will have to look outside of town centres and popular hotspots. One solution is the use of warehouse space, even if there is no need for a company to offer fulfilment or storage, a warehouse conversion into office space can be easily achieved, and the great thing is, it can be a split cost for a number of businesses, creating a shared office environment.
Benefits of a warehouse conversion:
- Warehouses are often easy to adapt
- There is normally more potential space than meets the eye – think split level mezzanine floors
- Warehouses usually have flexible zoning: it is usually easier to gain approval to modify warehouse space
Converting a warehouse is suitable for any business! Don’t rule it out and if you want further advice give us a call to talk through your requirements or complete our contact form and a member of the team will get back to you.