§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many square feet of office space, residential accommodation and shop floor space in the existing buildings on the site of the formerly proposed new parliamentary 211W building are currently empty; how many have been empty for more than 12 months and two years, respectively; and what is the annual rent lost to the Government as a result during the past year.
§ Mr. MarksApproximately 104,000 sq. ft. of space is currently vacant of which 24,000 has been empty for more than two years and a further 40,000 sq. ft. for more than 12 months.
However, the effective annual rent lost to the Government for this space is minimal, as over half—56,000 sq. ft.—is unusable and requires major expenditure whilst uncertainties about future parliamentary requirements affect a further 37,000 sq. ft. Much of the remaining 11,000 sq. ft. is sub-standard and is in small units; the estimated annual rental value of this remainder is about £35,000.
Office space (sq. ft.) Residential accommodation (units) Shop floor space (sq. ft.) Currently unoccupied … … … 730,214 15 968 Unoccupied for more than 12 months … … … 198,111 5 780 Unoccupied for more than 2 years … … … 94,593 0 0 Of the space that is currently vacant, 673,621 sq. ft. are being prepared for occupation by Government Departments, leaving 56,593 sq. ft. Although this figure remains fairly constant—at about 0.3 per cent. of the total PSA office estate in Central London—there is a continually high turnover of vacant accommodation, due to the constantly changing requirements of Government Departments and the normal incidence of lease expiry. Accordingly, very little of this space can be considered surplus to Government requirements; however, the list of vacant accommodation is constantly monitored and space is surrendered or let whenever it is practicable to do so.