Attracting new business to London could be made more difficult by a lack of office space the City cautioned.
In March, Chancellor George Osbourne proposed relaxing the planning laws to make it easier to convert office space. Under the proposed changes the red tape and consultation process to make such conversions would be cut drastically.
Peter Rees, Planning Officer for the Corporation of London stated: “While the government’s ambition of supporting economic growth and increasing housing stocks is laudable, the consultation on relaxing planning laws for the conversion of office space to residential properties could have a detrimental impact not only on the City of London but on business districts throughout the UK.”
He added that due to the “cyclical nature” of the property industry if offices were converted then once the market picks up it will be harder to attract new firms to the City.
See our Guide to Opening an Office in the City of London
The City is to propose that London’s foremost business districts, such as the Square Mile, be awarded a protected status which would make conversions in these areas impossible. Such a move would ensure that there will always be enough space for business, according to the City.
Mr Rees is to meet with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles today to lobby against the changes.
According to the government, if all empty office space was converted into residential space then up to 250,000 new homes could be created. Currently, housebuilding levels in the UK are at their lowest level since 1923.
A few new developments in the City are to include residential space, such as The Heron and Principal Place.
Editor’s notes: In September 2020, a movement was passed that meant that offices in England came under the new Use Class E allowing for the free change of any of the uses within it. This made is a lot simpler to convert offices to residential dwellings as it automatically provided national permitted development rights.
However, in March 2022, the City of London Corporation was successful in obtaining an Article 4 Direction which removed national permitted development rights for the change of use of offices to residential.