Reacting to the Government’s plan this week to make it easier for empty offices to be turned into housing, leading property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle say this is a positive step that could help deliver much-needed homes for Bristol.
However Kevin Hunt, planning consultant in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Bristol office warned the market will dictate whether it amounts to any real change in the city.
Kevin Hunt said: “This is a positive step that could help bring a new lease of life to long empty office buildings and deliver some of the new homes Bristol so desperately needs. It could also help reduce the pressure to build housing on green field sites and help further regeneration of the city centre and elsewhere.
“But we need to be realistic. Inevitably the market will identify the viable options, but it’s worth remembering that any physical changes to the buildings, likely to be necessary in most cases, will still require planning permission. So don’t expect the immediate transformation of Bristol’s most deserted commercial areas.”
