Croydon council is considering a land acquisition fund to deal with the redundant office stock in the town.
Jon Rouse, Croydon council’s chief executive, said almost a third of the town’s offices either needed to be destroyed or refurbished and a fund either using public money or a public private partnership could be used to deal with the stock.
“Making it happen will be hard,” said Rouse, but the fund is essential. “Oversupply of low grade office space has a downward pull on rents making it difficult for office development to be built within £25-£30 per sq ft and that’s where we need the market to be,” he added.
Rouse said the fund was at present a tentative idea, but was a problem the council needed to resolve if regeneration was to happen.
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nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com
