Only six out of 13 councils across the West Midlands have agreed to government plans, which will see empty commercial property space being turned into housing, according to property firm CBRE.
The new ‘permitted development rights’, which were announced by secretary for communities Eric Pickles, will allow local authorities to convert derelict offices into residential space without planning permissions needed. The proposals were laid out in order to deal with the housing shortage in the UK.
Local authorities were given the deadline of February 22nd to apply to be exempt from such proposals, and whilst Wolverhampton, Coventry, Bromsgrove, North Warwickshire, Stratford and Solihull all agreed to the plans, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall all sought to be exempt. Other councils which refused to follow such proposals were Warwick, Redditch, Cherwell and Birmingham. The latter in particular asked for exemption in the new enterprise zone, central business district and most of the Jewellery Quarter.
Adrian Willet, a director at the Birmingham office of CBRE, said: “My fear for many of these sites is that they will continue to be blighted as a result of local authorities prevaricating. Their owners will be stuck with redundant stock and saddled with paying business rates on empty space. There are already many constraints on office-to-residential conversions.”
Mr Willet further argued that technical issues, location and parking may all hinder conversion, whilst residential landlords may soon clock on the fact that commercial property usually is rented at higher rates, and thus this may increase the cost of local housing.
However campaigners for the proposals have argued that development costs will dramatically reduce under these new measures. A new build would cost anywhere between £90 and £125 per sq ft, but a conversion can cost between £60 and £75 per sq ft.