Mayor of London lobbies government to protect capital’s business districts
THE MAYOR of London Boris Johnson has written to the government urging it to abandon plans that could “compromise London and the UK’s future economic growth.”
The coalition government has relaxed rules on converting office space to homes but exemptions were obtained for key business districts such as the City of London, the West End and “tech city”.
Those exemptions are now under threat prompting the mayor to sign a joint letter together with London First, the British Property Federation and the Planning Officers Society London to the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles.
The letter warns that the “incremental unplanned loss of office accommodation in strategically important office areas of London can significantly weaken the agglomeration benefits provided by these locations.”
Last year, City Hall heard that four million square metres of office space in the capital were at risk from unplanned redevelopments.