Earlier this month, we published our latest report Delivering Affordable Workspace in London, in partnership with DS2 and DP9.
It was fantastic to bring together so many of our members with borough and GLA representatives to have a cross-sector discussion about this very topical subject. At the beginning of the session, we asked the audience if they felt they had a clear understanding of what is meant by ​‘affordable workspace’. It was striking just how few hands were raised in the air, thus proving that planners and developers are still trying to get to grips with this relatively new concept.
Policy makers and the business community agree that start-ups and SMEs are essential to London’s business ecosystem. These organisations need affordable and flexible workspace to grow, but sadly they are struggling to afford premises in the capital. Whilst the GLA has introduced a robust policy in the London Plan to help address this, delivery on the ground often fails to meet the actual need in the market.
A variety of local plan policies have generated mixed results that aren’t always aligned with the original intent of the London Plan policy. Whilst the policy seeks a broad range of low-cost space including workshops, laboratories and maker space for a variety of organisations including community groups and creative enterprises, what is often delivered instead is Grade A office space in prime office locations. Yet these organisations generally thrive best in incubator hubs where they can collaborate, and share resources and support services.
In response, the report discusses eight practical considerations for developers and local planning officers in delivering affordable workspace and sets out seven recommendations to improve the drafting and application of local plan polices such as the need for more robust evidence when drafting local plan policies, monitoring delivery, and allowing greater flexibility to deliver off-site provision or payments in lieu.
At the launch event, kindly hosted by Landsec, we were joined by speakers Nabeel Khan, Director of Economy, Culture and Skills at the London Borough of Lambeth and Robert Hume, Senior Development Director at Landsec who brought borough and developer perspectives to the panel discussion. In chatting through the report recommendations, and taking questions from the audience, one of the top-priority asks was for there to be more rigorous assessment of need, so that policies are more effective, and supply is better aligned with need.
Furthermore, data monitoring will be essential to better understand what is being delivered across the capital and take up, both in terms of quantum and type of space. In parallel, closer monitoring of the commercial property market post-pandemic will be vital to understand the impact of new ways of working. It was suggested that there could be more ​‘affordable’ secondary and tertiary commercial space becoming available on the market and therefore any affordable workspace contributions could be better spent on local authority led incubator hubs, subsidising market rents, or providing financial support to existing vulnerable facilities rather than providing new physical space.
We will be using the report as a platform to engage with stakeholders on this issue. If you would like to get involved or discuss any of the issues raised in greater detail with myself, or our co-authors Pascal Levine at DS2 and Gillian Nicks at DP9, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
To discuss our planning and development work in more detail, please contact Sarah Bevan.