Key statistics
■ 17.9m sq ft of office space has now been lost
■ More than 20,000 homes have be created from PDR since 2013
■ PDR conversions account for 7.8% of all new housing
■ In London, 7.5m sq ft of office space has been lost
■ A further 5.8m sq ft could be converted under not yet implemented approvals
■ 50% – average implementation rate
■ 750 applications for conversion are submitted per quarter
The amount of office space in the UK has declined by 3.8m sq ft over the past two years as office to residential conversions continue under permitted development rights.
Research from the British Council for Offices says total stock has now been declining since 2013, and currently stands at 922m sq ft.
The research was conducted by CBRE, which used public as well as EG data. It reveals that office-to-residential conversion under permitted development rights – which came into force in 2013 and allow conversions without planning permission – are now at all-time high.
Despite various local authorities implementing Article 4 Directions banning residential development and a public backlash, it estimates 6,600 new homes were created in 2014, and 11,200 in 2015.
The rising number of conversions are boosting housebuilding totals, increasing from 1.6% in 2011, to 7.8% now. This may have been one of the reasons the government decided to make the policy permanent in 2015.
The BCO says about 5.4m sq ft of office space was lost in 2015, and conversions now account for fall in office supply of about 1% a year.
Since 2013, there has been a cumulative loss of 17.9m sq ft of office floorspace, says the BCO.
Despite much of the “low hanging fruit” being picked, there are still thousands of potential units in the pipeline through prior approval permissions that have not yet been implemented.
According to the BCO, a further 5.8m sq ft could still be converted.
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