Convert out of town offices and create 11,500 new homes – LSH
AROUND 11,500 new homes could be created by converting 7.4m sq ft of the UK’s obsolete office stock, according to new research.
Lambert Smith Hampton’s (LSH) Office Market Review 2013: Addressing obsolescence analysed 32 regional markets and found that 27% of total regional availability is obsolete (11.7m sq ft) and of this stock, 7.4m sq ft is suitable for conversion.
Adam Varley, LSH head of office agency in Leeds, said: “Modern workplace trends have changed office occupier’s requirements – they need flexible, open plan space and crucially less of it. In the last 20 years, the amount of allocated space per person in an average UK office has halved.
“Current grade B, C and D stock in the city centre is unlikely to ever be let again without significant refurbishment. There is a huge need for grade A space and there are examples across the city where developers are taking advantage of what would otherwise be obsolete stock and revamping it to meet occupier demands. The refurbishment of Brotherton House at the western gateway of Leeds city centre is testament to this and once finished will help to plug the gap between available space and occupier demand.”
He added: “While refurbishing stock located in business districts of the city centre will ensure Leeds’ attractiveness to large companies, there is a percentage of stock that just isn’t suitable for commercial use anymore. We would hope to see truly redundant properties being converted into accommodation. In the past, getting planning permission to convert an office into residential accommodation could be costly and time consuming.
“This is no longer the case in England following the government’s recent announcement that they will allow office space to be converted without planning permission.”
