Planning consents for
the conversion of offices to residential buildings in the West
End is on the increase.
Last year schemes totalling more that 2 million sq ft of conversion were
granted, significantly up on the 202,000 sq ft in 2010. Values of West End conversions are being
quoted at the £3,000 per sq ft mark as against £2,000 per sq ft for office
space and a number of office building are currently on the market to attract
residential developers to drain even more for the pool of available commercial
space. It is thought the demand is, yet
again in the London residential market, being
driven by demand from “overseas buyers” with the kudos of Mayfair
and St. James’s being too great an attraction to resist.
Westminster Council
would appear to be keen on this latest trend, showing limited resistance to the
movement to convert. Indeed, new
planning regulations may make it even easier to carry these out without the
need for a change of use consent. The
trend will continue to put the squeeze on the West End
commercial occupier, those creating and bringing wealth into the capital on a
continuing basis. Rental levels on
refurbished space in Mayfair are already
breaking the £100 per sq ft level and, with a narrowing range of choice as new
developments hit an all time low, there will be continual upward pressure on
the limited vacant space available.
This is all very well
for the present as the Capital’s residential market continues to resist the
national trend of stagnation and even regression in housing prices. Where there’s a fast buck to be made, why not? When the economy turns, (and it has to
doesn’t it?) the time lag to address the requirement for more commercial
accommodation will be significant. Apart from the obvious lack of acreage in
the West End, and they’re not making any more of that, the timescales to
prepare and develop either new build, conversions or refurbishment will mean
that the shortage of available space will be with us for some time to come.
Not all is doom and
gloom on this front, however. There are
those who welcome the return to original usage of some fine buildings, with
period features once again being brought back to a life they were originally
intended for.
