Westminster Council is considering a curb on the conversion of office space to residential use in a bid to protect central London SMEs. The council is reviewing its policy to maintain a balance of uses and to ensure that the district’s small scale office stock is not further diminished.
There has been a huge surge in applications to convert offices into luxury flats in recent years in order to satisfy the demand of overseas investors. This year alone, 120 permissions have been granted compared with just 66 in 2008-2009. Now the council is concerned that the trend threatens the future of small businesses in the district.
Speaking to the Evening Standard Rosemarie MacQueen, Westminster’s director for the built environment said; “The number of planning applications and interest in changing office accommodation to residential has necessitated a review of our approach.
“In particular, we need to protect the small scale, low value building stock that is the optimum home to SMEs but also, unfortunately, is the kind of building that lends itself to conversion to residential use.”
The review of procedure is in stark contrast to government policy which is in favour of deregulation of planning laws to encourage house building and to boost the economy.
David Silverman, of the Westminster Property Association, warned that any intervention in the market based on a short term reaction could have a detrimental effect.
He said; “A mix of uses in the City of Westminster clearly contributes to its vitality and success.
“While SMEs are naturally important, we need to be clear whether there is a real and active long-term problem in central London or not.”
The council’s review is certain to be closely watched by developers. West End residential value currently stands at £3,250 per sq ft. Prime office values are around £2,100 per sq ft according to Martin Davis of DTZ.
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