A grim outlook for offices in Bloomsbury!

Where does the future of offices lie in Bloomsbury?

Ashurst Real Estate was recently commissioned to provide a survey of available and vacant offices for rent within a half mile radius of Doughty Street in Bloomsbury to support a planning application for a change of use from offices to residential.

This radius crosses several sub property markets including Bloomsbury, Holborn and Clerkenwell.

In December 2023, there was approximately 1.5 million sq. ft. of offices available for rent within a quarter of a mile of Doughty Street which is midway between King’s Cross and Chancery Lane, and on the Bloomsbury / Holborn border. Of this, approximately 1.3 million sq. ft. was vacant.

The available offices represented a diverse range of building styles, sizes, specifications and conditions.

Having undertaken a refresh at the beginning of April 2024, the amount of available offices has increased to approximately 1.7 million sq. ft. available with 1.5 million sq. ft. vacant and is an increase of 15%! More importantly, according to the research, this accounts for over 18% of total stock within the search area.

Contrast these numbers to March 2020, just before the 1st lock down, there was 878,000 sq. ft of available offices with 553,000 sq. ft. vacant.

Since March 2020, there has been an almost 300% increase in vacant offices within this specific area.

Or in contrast, one can assume that demand has fallen by a similar amount.

That is a lot of empty offices and doesn’t make good reading if you are a landlord or an owner of offices in the area.

Despite overwhelming statistics illustrating that in this particular location, the demand for offices is at a historic low, entrepreneurial building owners are still apparently required to jump through hoops in order to apply for a change of use for redevelopment.

With few signs of an imminent recovery in this particular location, there seems little sense in asking property owners to market an undesirable or unwanted property for 2 years or to prove that it’s not a viable commercial refurbishment when the statistics paint such a clear picture.

A relaxing of the planning rules would not only benefit building owners but should also provide a welcome boost to local economies with increased construction and the cashflow that it generates.