Office block could be converted into housing

Office block could be converted into housing

Just now

Alexander Stevanovic

South of England

A decision to convert business premises into more than 100 new affordable homes will be made by the end of November, according to Wokingham Borough Council.

If approved, Mulberry Business Park in Wokingham would house residents such as those at risk of homelessness, care leavers, people with physical disabilities and local families.

The site, which was bought by the council in 2018, is loss-making due to low demand for office space and costs the authority more than £800,000 a year.

Council leader Stephen Conway said they "could not continue with that rate of loss" and converting the block would "help people who are priced out of the housing market".

The business park was bought as an investment, however, with the decline in demand for office space, selling it would not recoup the money.

Conway said rental costs would be set "at around half market rent" and the conversion could happen by 2030.

"The council would own and manage the site and all rental costs would go back into the housing revenue account to cover the costs of repair and maintenance," he said.

Since 2023, part of the building has been used, rent-free by The Cowshed charity under a short-term agreement.

BBC Berkshire went to visit two residential blocks that were former business premises.

Hussain Rokni has rented a flat at Berkshire House in central Maidenhead for two years and said living there was "like living in a hotel".

"It's very comfortable but it is like a three star hotel. It is a very crowded apartment block but we can't hear each other, so it's perfect," he said.

Joyce Addae has lived at Emerald House in Newbury for four years and says the site, which also used to be a business premises, was "quiet - like living in a regular apartment and the rent was affordable".

"It gives me ambition to work harder because I see all the other businesses around here," she said.

Jasmine Andrady, who has lived at Emerald House for a year, felt the "layout was funny" because there is a courtyard in the middle of the building but it was a good place to live.

"It's nice, quiet and cosy here, I like it," she said.

The UK government first relaxed planning rules for converting office space for different use in 2013 and there have been hundreds of thousands of applications and successful conversions according to the Local Government Association.

Cerys Atchison, a chartered town planner at Planning by Design, said: "The peak year was in 2023, when we saw 22,000 applications for conversions.

"It has been so popular that in some areas of London, the planning rights were removed because so many conversions were happening, they were losing office stock."

According to the London School of Economics, regional property audits by commercial real estate firms highlight that Berkshire, and particularly Reading,is one of the largest Permitted Development (PD) conversion hotspots in the South East.

A decision on Mulberry Business Park will be made by the council on 26 November.

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