Westminster city council is to fast-track its plans to counter office-to-residential conversion, bringing in new rules from September 2015.
The borough has been consulting since December 2014 on moves to protect declining office stock in its central activities zone, as residential values continue to outstrip office revenues.
Measures include a ruling that no office losses are acceptable unless a developer can demonstrate that the overall benefits of the scheme outweigh the loss.
Even where this is demonstrated, developers will have to provide additional office space elsewhere to mitigate the loss.
The council’s existing mixed-use policy will also be altered. Developers trying to build office space will no longer have to provide equivalent amounts of residential floorspace, with additional commercial space deemed acceptable.
Westminster estimates 1.8m sq ft of office space has been lost in the West End over the past four years, driving commercial undersupply and higher rents.
The council will now review responses to the consultation, which closed on 27 February.
Deputy council leader Robert Davis said: “We need to act now to stem the tide of declining office space and protect the West End’s status as the engine room of the economy.”
