London to convert offices into homes..

[CeramicMX5ND2]

The City of London have announced post-Covid plans to convert empty offices into homes.. With so many now working from home I think there will be a lot of empty office space up and down the country.. Cities may look very different in future as one of the effects of the pandemic changes lifestyles....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56888615

[Eric Mc]

Happening everywhere - and nothing to do with Covid.

[JeffreyD]

Eric Mc said:

Happening everywhere - and nothing to do with Covid.

Indeed.

We converted one office to apartments and will almost certainly do the same with the remaining one once the lease is up.

I'm also trying to buy one at the moment which we will turn into our home.

Judging by the ones I've seen over the last couple of years it's happening more and more.

[Lotobear]

Seems to be a Capital idea

[stongle]

Been happening since the 1990's. Lower Thames Street has several ex office developments that had been converted into flats. They are weirdly converted, but its not a new thing.

The effect will probably be more pronounced in Canary Wharf. Lots of talking up from the Canary Wharf organisation about increasing live-in units and diversifying to wider industries, but difficult to see that given the cost.

[FNG]

Eric Mc said:

Happening everywhere - and nothing to do with Covid.

Not even a bit? I'm surprised by that.

[anonymous-user]

stongle said:

Been happening since the 1990's. Lower Thames Street has several ex office developments that had been converted into flats. They are weirdly converted, but its not a new thing.

The effect will probably be more pronounced in Canary Wharf. Lots of talking up from the Canary Wharf organisation about increasing live-in units and diversifying to wider industries, but difficult to see that given the cost.

Was just going to mention Canary Wharf. They have been planning the move from commercial to a much bigger mix of residential and commercial for a while now.

This is a good article if anyone is interested:

"The rise and fall of Canary Wharf"

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/canary-wharf-pande...

[stongle]

Lord Marylebone said:

Was just going to mention Canary Wharf. They have been planning the move from commercial to a much bigger mix of residential and commercial for a while now.

This is a good article if anyone is interested:

"The rise and fall of Canary Wharf"

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/canary-wharf-pande...

Difficult to see where the "wider commercial" is coming from..... rents are astronomical and the appetite for 180 quid a month gyms or 7quid pints is probably limited...

The site doesn't really lend itself to a "frugal" or cost conscious based living or industries. The whole ethos of the place is a bit Stratton Oakmont, its why the glass is so thick in the towers to stop the dwarfs flying through the windows.

[Hol]

My Sons first year of University was living in a converted office block that both his mother and I used to work in during the mid 90's.


It was done well and interesting to walk up and down the same stairwells.

[anonymous-user]

I've slept in the office before. Does that count?

[TellYaWhatItIs]

I have a faint memory of the laws around commercial and domestic (multi-occupancy buildings) usage, being changed (along with many other otherwise unrelated things) by the Coronavirus Act 2020? Am I conflating this?

[lauda]

FNG said:

Eric Mc said:

Happening everywhere - and nothing to do with Covid.

Not even a bit? I'm surprised by that.

It was happening before Covid. I imagine it will happen even more now.

There will undoubtedly be a Covid-impact on the demand for office space. The organisation I work for is looking to offload some of the central London space we occupy (having already rationalised a few years ago and sub-let a couple of floors) and plenty of others are doing the same. Landlords are going to want to do something with the empty space and I can't see there being much demand in its current form.

[JeffreyD]

lauda said:

FNG said:

Eric Mc said:

Happening everywhere - and nothing to do with Covid.

Not even a bit? I'm surprised by that.

It was happening before Covid. I imagine it will happen even more now.

There will undoubtedly be a Covid-impact on the demand for office space. The organisation I work for is looking to offload some of the central London space we occupy (having already rationalised a few years ago and sub-let a couple of floors) and plenty of others are doing the same. Landlords are going to want to do something with the empty space and I can't see there being much demand in its current form.

Not London but we had permission for quite some time to convert (the building was originally 4 houses with a large extension) but the numbers were always marginal. As house prices increased it started to add up more and more.
The new planning laws will also make it easier as well.

[Evoluzione]

I wonder how long before they convert high St shops into housing. If it stops them building over everything else it'll be a good thing.
It'll be a strange thing too if the local town centre becomes a housing estate.

[JeffreyD]

Evoluzione said:

I wonder how long before they convert high St shops into housing. If it stops them building over everything else it'll be a good thing.
It'll be a strange thing too if the local town centre becomes a housing estate.

They've just changed the planning laws to allow under permitted development, so it's likely to become more common.

[anonymous-user]

Evoluzione said:

I wonder how long before they convert high St shops into housing. If it stops them building over everything else it'll be a good thing.
It'll be a strange thing too if the local town centre becomes a housing estate.

I firmly believe that town centres need to change to an integrated mix of residential, leisure, retail, and commercial.

People should be able to live, work, get a coffee, go to a restaurant, go to a bar, go to the shops etc all within walking distance around town centres. Less cars will be required.

I appreciate that many are like that already, but I think we will see a push towards getting more people back into living in the very centre of towns and cities. Empty shops and office units will be converted into residential, and eventually there will be a large enough number of people living in the town centres and working from home, or working locally, that the remaining shop units and leisure facilites will begin to thrive again.

(All of the above is a guess by the way. Don't quote me on it)

[Fundoreen]

Will they keep office features like false ceiling and strip lights? Why not lower standards so apartments can just be made out of those cubicle partition panels with a name badge for your address with neigbours constantly peering over the top for a chat lol.

[anonymous-user]

Fundoreen said:

Will they keep office features like false ceiling and strip lights? Why not lower standards so apartments can just be made out of those cubicle partition panels with a name badge for your address with neigbours constantly peering over the top for a chat lol.

There are actually a whole host of problems with converting office to residential.

Air quality and ventilation.
Windows (or more specifically non-opening windows)
Noise/sound proofing.
Insulation.
Daylight.
Single aspect windows/views.
etc

This is why unless done to a very high standard (and high cost) converting office to residential can often be a disaster for the future occupants.

[CrutyRammers]

FNG said:

Eric Mc said:

Happening everywhere - and nothing to do with Covid.

Not even a bit? I'm surprised by that.

Rather unlikely that covid lockdowns have had zero effect, I would suggest, even though it was clearly happening before. The number of companies drastically reducing their office space over the last year is rather more than normal.

[JeffreyD]

Lord Marylebone said:

There are actually a whole host of problems with converting office to residential.

Air quality and ventilation.
Windows (or more specifically non-opening windows)
Noise/sound proofing.
Insulation.
Daylight.
Single aspect windows/views.
etc

This is why unless done to a very high standard (and high cost) converting office to residential can often be a disaster for the future occupants.

Many offices are repurposed residential in the first place.
I agree it will be difficult to do some of the newer city centre purpose built blocks.