London Property Alliance’s report, Space for Change: Office space dynamics in central London, provides an in-depth analysis of the office market, including secondary workspace and the economic potential of upgrading these buildings at scale.
Authored by Knight Frank, the research finds that 14 million sq ft of office space was lost in London’s Central Activities Zone (CAZ) between 2018–2023, despite an estimated 11 million sq ft shortfall of space in the capital over the next five years.
Meanwhile, over half of the office space in the CAZ can be classified as ‘secondary’ and does not meet the needs of leading businesses. The report finds that planning reforms to enable upgrades to these buildings could deliver an economic boost of £84 billion (GVA) as well as creating £11.4 billion in annual rental income and £262 billion of investment value.
The paper calls on national and local government to protect vital office space and back a strategic programme of refurbishment or redevelopment through the below key interventions:
- Classify major office schemes as critical ‘economic’ infrastructure to ensure that they are given ‘very significant weight’ in planning decisions.
- Recognise economic growth as a public benefit in planning policy.
- Address delivery barriers to unlock development by streamlining costs and regulatory requirements placed on schemes and concentrating on what is essential for viable delivery.
- Prevent accidental loss of office space in the CAZ by tracking total office floorspace through regular monitoring to ensure the CAZ retains enough viable, modern workspace to support jobs, productivity and investment.
- Targeted change of use so that it is permitted in specific areas or only where there is clear evidence of lack of demand, economic obsolescence, or where retrofitting or redevelopment as an office is not viable.
- Unlock economic value through sustainable retrofit of heritage buildings through clear guidance, faster approvals and targeted incentives.
- Back the Elizabeth line nodes with capacity and public-realm upgrades to meet demand for highly connected workplaces.
- Incentivise office retention in core areas through business rates.
This report has been sponsored by Grosvenor and GPE with supporting case studies from Dominus and Landsec.
Read our report here
