Published: 30/07/2014
The strong housing market in Britain is causing developers to convert an increasing number of offices to homes. According to figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) commercial space in the UK has declined at its fastest rate since RICS began its data series in 1998.
Last year, the government eased planning rules to convert offices into homes to get rid of poor quality offices but this exacerbated the shortage of commercial space; particularly in economically buoyant locations such as London where the house prices far outpace the value of even high-quality office stock, according to RICS.
The conversion of offices into homes, while addressing the shortfall of homes can create problems for Small-to-Medium sized enterpries looking to expand and start-ups looking to set-up business as confidence in the economy grows.
Last year, the government eased planning rules to convert offices into homes to get rid of poor quality offices but this exacerbated the shortage of commercial space; particularly in economically buoyant locations such as London where the house prices far outpace the value of even high-quality office stock, according to RICS.
The conversion of offices into homes, while addressing the shortfall of homes can create problems for Small-to-Medium sized enterpries looking to expand and start-ups looking to set-up business as confidence in the economy grows.