The former vice chair of Croydon Central Labour Party has submitted an application to turn a pair of the south London town’s office blocks into 1,500 flats – one day before a deadline preventing PDR applications.
AA Homes managing director Anwar Ansari has applied to turn Lunar House and Apollo House into one-bedroom flats.
Croydon council has applied to the government for an office-to-resi exemption to be brought in on 10 September and told developers that any applications submitted less than 56 days before that date would not be considered. Ansari’s applications come 57 days before the date.
The buildings, which are currently occupied by the Home Office, were put up for sale by owner Harel Insurance for £95m via CBRE and JLL last month.
Ansari is not under offer to buy the buildings but has moved to secure a potential residential conversion should the government grant the council an exemption.
In total, four applications have been made in relation to the two office blocks.
The first two applications relate to Lunar House – one of which envisages 904 one-bedroom flats and the second of which seeks permission for 670 one- and two-bedroom flats.
A second pair of applications for Apollo House consist of either 470 one-bed room or 333 one- and two-bedroom flats.
Croydon has seen more office-to-resi conversions than any other part of the UK, given its high density of dated office stock and proximity to central London.
However, the council is keen to encourage more new-build development, which would deliver better quality homes and create office space.
It has earmarked Apollo House and Lunar House as having the potential for 2m sq ft of new-build development.
At present, the buildings boast a combined 441,797 sq ft of office space and the Home Office’s lease does not expire until 2023.
