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Number of office to residential conversions falls by 19% in a year

The number of office to residential conversions has fallen by 19% over the last year from 2,942 in 2014/15 to 2,388 in 2015/16, according to peer to peer lending platform Saving Stream.

The firm says that the lack of funding available to property developers is a key contributor to this decline in conversions in the last year. Saving Stream says that bank lending to the property sector fell during the financial crisis and was further reduced last year following the Brexit vote.

Rules surrounding office to residential conversion were relaxed in 2013, and made permanent in April 2016 with the purpose of tackling the housing crisis. However, Saving Stream adds that without the funding necessary to get projects off the ground, developers have not been able to make the most of these changes.

In addition, uncertainty over how Brexit might affect property prices, particularly in London where a high proportion of buyers are from overseas, has also contributed to the fall in conversions over the last year. ‘Some developers will have put projects on hold in order to determine their viability following the referendum result,’ the firm stated.

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