If You Ask Me – Property: Change of Use

In this property special If You Ask Me feature, we turn the spotlight on the change of use in the sector.

With this being a key theme during and post-COVID, unLTD chats to a host of industry experts about the evolution of our local high streets and workspaces.

Some contributors also share their views on opportunities in city centres and suburban areas, while others discuss the developments which are continuing to prove successful – and, ultimately, the trends that are driving the market right now.

WAYNE FLETCHER,
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR,
AUSTIN FLETCHER

High street development styles and planning will need to adapt to the requirement of the public.

Hospitality should be key to the resurrection of the city centre. Public demand should be high as we move out lockdown and restrictions relax over the spring and summer months. The key here is whether it can be sustained over the winter months, and if we can avoid further lockdown restrictions, to retain the confidence of the consumer and investor.

I envisage European style restaurant and café dominated zones, which provide the ambience as well as the product. Areas of Green open space will add to the pro-pedestrianised vibe, offering the consumer a more relaxed enjoyable dining experience.

Retail must evolve to provide a USP that online shopping cannot compete against. It will be interesting to see how retailers approach this and their proposed solutions. We may witness the introduction of more pop-up shops, partnerships and shared retail spaces and I suspect we will see an enhanced city centre ‘consumer experience’, with entertainment and added attractions to entice people into the city centre. Public realm and green open spaces should also play a major part in this.

High street office space will inevitably change with an increase in flexible working and shared office space, leading to the repurposing and change of use of some buildings.

The dynamics of city centre living is in a constant state of evolution due to the changing demands of communities and businesses.

City centre living may become more popular as areas are pedestrianised and green spaces start to sprawl, making city centre living a more aesthetically pleasing place to live. This is becoming increasingly more important to particular demographics, with a keen focus on sustainability and eco-friendly choices.

Historically the majority of city centre living spaces have been occupied by young professionals and students. With the introduction of green spaces and areas of natural beauty, city centres will evolve into a much softer, warmer, and welcoming place to live, encouraging young couples and families to areas they may not have previously considered.

As city centres evolve, with some areas inevitably changing to form purposeful residential zones, there will be a new demand for retail and hospitality generated from those areas. Rather than feeding city centre workers 9 to 5 and weekend shoppers from suburbia, it is possible the client base for many businesses will switch to a more local residential one.

As we start to recognise that COVID-19 is not suddenly going to disappear and it is something we need to accept and live with long-term, it is apparent significant changes need to be made to how we operate daily.

The pandemic has provided a focus on wellbeing for employers and employees which presents an opportunity to adapt to a more favourable work/life balance which will no doubt lead to some significant changes.

Office space will still be in demand for some businesses as working from home (WFH) does not work for all employees and employers. However, COVID-19 has helped to shed the WFH stigma and given employers confidence and a heightened level of trust in employees, enabling them to implement new ways of working. I expect most will adopt a flexible working environment, downsizing office spaces or introducing hot-desking.

Much existing office space will require restructuring and air quality improvements to ensure compliance for social distancing and ventilation measures. Continued WFH practices will also likely mean a demand for dedicated home office space – something property developers and agents will be keen to explore. It will be interesting to see how this impacts how houses are rented and advertised, going forward.