Slough: Office market picks up with 220,000 sq ft of sales, says Lambert Smith Hampton

According to statistics from national commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), Slough’s office market is seeing signs of improvement. This follows the sale of 10 buildings this year, totalling marginally less than 220,000 sq ft, which has dramatically reduced Slough’s total office market stock. 

Castle View Court (14,663 sq ft) and Churchill House (13,700 sq ft) were purchased by owner occupiers. Westminster House (12,500 sq ft), Parliament House (8,220 sq ft), Cornwall House (29,124 sq ft), 1 Stoke Road (10,384 sq ft), 1a Whittle Parkway (17,243 sq ft), 163 Bath Road (33,500 sq ft), Nova Building (30,000 sq ft) and Pioneer House (48,500 sq ft), were all purchased for alternative uses. These include residential and serviced residential conversions, D1 educational, training and religious uses.

Richard Duncan, LSH’s Slough office agency expert, said: “This year has seen a new phase of investment in Slough. There has been a significant increase in purchasers seeking to acquire low-grade office stock (with vacant possession) for alternative uses. This indicates that these buildings were effectively obsolete for their original use as office buildings and investors or alternative occupiers were able to benefit from the resultant reduction in capital values. This has resulted in a much-needed reduction in low-quality office stock in Slough.

“The wave of investment is in part due to the Government’s change in legislation to the Development Rights Bill, which took place in May 2013, and has relaxed the rules regarding conversion of offices to alternative uses, including residential property.”

Office availability in Slough currently stands at 1.05 million sq ft (approximately 31% of the total office stock on the Slough market). This is a significant drop from 2012, where levels were at 1.28 million sq ft.