From Office To Flats... A Residential Conversion Opportunity
May 2011
Commercial office premises in Wellington Court, Cambridge are to be converted to flats, thanks to a combination of in-depth experience from Januarys and an element of lateral thinking by its client.
One and Two Wellington Court, which until recently housed almost a thousand square feet of office space each, will shortly be transformed into four one bedroom and two studio apartments.
Nick Muncey explains how the change from commercial to residential use came about.
“We are always looking for creative ways to work with our clients, particularly when they are prepared put forward suggestions of their own.
" ur client came to us with a view to exploring the possible change of use from commercial to residential
“We were already well aware that the Government had signalled its interest in introducing new planning rules which would make it easier for developers to change offices and other business premises (but not shops) into flats and houses without planning permission and is currently consulting on these proposed changes.
“Using our planning expertise we were able to bring about a change of use from commercial to residential without waiting for the outcome of the Government’s consultation process.
“Given that there is already significant residential development in the area, we worked within existing planning regulations to bring about this change of use.
Nick is urging other owners of vacant commercial property to consider conversion to residential as an alternative, viable option.
“Cambridge is desperately short of brownfield housing sites and this is one of the reasons why there has been such a gap between supply and demand in the residential market for the last few years.
“I am sure there must be other business premises which could be turned into housing.
“Naturally, the city needs to maintain a balance between residential and commercial building. Given the drive towards sustainability, however, where everyone is being encouraged to live close to where they work, turning some office space into housing makes a good deal of sense.”
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