Office to Resi – how long will it last?

It is not a secret that millions of square feet of commercial property all over London have been converted into residential. It’s happening everywhere, and there are countless properties both in what normally has been commercial or residential areas that are currently surrounded by intense banging of scaffolding being put up, or cranes blocking out light as more buildings get converted to residential.

The reason why this is happening in multiple areas is the current high demand for residential property. This makes many landlords want to make change over to residential in order to maximise theirs properties value.

Many are debating how long this can go on for, and the first signs that the market may be turning are showing up. A lot of the conversion and new builds in London are very high-end, which makes analysts estimate that the buildings are planned for commercial purposes. But it is not just the premium areas which are affected by the decrease in the take up of new residential space. For instance, the new-build development around the Battersea power station is not seeing the level on interest from potential buyers that was expected, and this is causing delays and cash flow problems for the development.

Fraser Williams, Managing Director at Morgan Pryce said: “The office to residential conversion has put quite the dark cloud over the commercial property market for some time now. Therefore, if the demand isn’t as high for the residential properties anymore, then perhaps more office could remain offices in order to help tenants in the commercial market.”

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.