Ian Mercer, partner and head of development explains "Although it has succeeded in transforming any number of unsightly and under-utilised office buildings, the Government’s campaign to get Britain building by relaxing planning regulations was always likely to prove vulnerable to less than desirable housing solutions."
Old office blocks are being converted into hundreds of flats – some as small as 14 square metres – half the size of a budget hotel room, which aren’t exactly palatial to start with.
Housing charities, local residents and the national media have branded them ‘dog kennels’ and ‘rabbit hutches’ and much else besides, but this is unlikely to deter the hundreds of thousands of desperate people looking to get on the property ladder.
Designed to allow the conversion of unwanted 60s office space into homes without developers having to submit a planning application, Permitted Development Rights has achieved notable success in city centres – transforming dead office blocks into thriving new communities.
Old offices were converted into almost 14,000 new residential units last year alone.
With converted offices accounting for almost three quarters of the new housing supply coming on line, the Government is unlikely to order a major rethink of its office to resi conversion strategy any time soon. However, a tweak stating PD houses should comply with minimum standards would be welcomed.
The national minimum space guidelines for an apartment is 37 sq m for a single person, but the local council considering the latest plan cannot throw these schemes out as they fall within the PDR legislation brought in 2015.
Surely the Government’s intention in the first instance was to keep the big construction companies busy during the worst downturn since the last war, and if this helped ease the housing waiting lists so much the better.
Office conversions outlived the downturn and became a significant factor in the construction industry into the recovery and beyond.
Ian said "The flood of office to resi conversion schemes in and around cities like Birmingham has eaten in to the supply of offices, forcing many businesses out of popular locations and stoking rents in the surviving properties. And now it seems it has resulted in homes many of us would shudder to think of our children living in."
For help with all your property matters contact Ian Mercer on 0121 200 1100 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.