Over 4 million square feet of West End office space has been converted to homes and hotels in the last ten years, a study reveals.
According to property consultancy H2SO, the trend has become more and more marked in the last decade as developers looked to capitalise on higher values for residential properties.
As a result, some 3 million square feet of what was office space has been converted into homes, while 1 million square feet is now being used as hotels and by the leisure sector.
Prevailing conditions mean the pattern will become worse in years to come, HS20 predicts, with up to 1.8 million square feet of office space set to be lost if Westminster council approves all applications it has received for similar conversions.
Paul Smith, a partner at H2SO, said: “The trend for office buildings in London’s West End being converted to other – primarily residential – uses gained momentum more than a decade ago, when Westminster council instigated a policy of not renewing the ‘temporary’ office planning consents that were granted on many buildings after the second world war.”