St Peter Port has an “over-supply” of vacant office space

Monday 27 September 2021

An audit to better understand how office space is used has revealed an over-supply of properties that are not fit for modern-day occupiers.

The research was carried out by Watts Property in conjunction with the States of Guernsey.

Watts developed a database of all offices in St Peter Port and other ‘main centre areas’. In doing so it defined offices into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Primary office space could be considered the higher end of a scale based on quality and rental value. Whereas tertiary space is at the bottom end.

Pictured: Watts broke down the factors that define a primary, secondary, or tertiary office space.

“The principal purpose of the Office Quality Audit is the establishment of a database detailing all office sites within the St Peter Port Main Centre and Main Centre Outer Areas,” said the President of the Development and Planning Authority, Deputy Victoria Oliver.

“The findings from this audit highlights the position and needs of the office sector, such as the growing demand for prime office space and the current oversupply of tertiary office space which can potentially be used for other purposes such as much needed housing.”

Watts Property Consultant Wing Lai said the audit further demonstrated what many people have suspected for a while.

“There is an oversupply of tertiary stock which is not suitable for modern-day occupiers and is therefore underutilised or vacant. This coincides with an undersupply of prime accommodation,” he said.

Pictured: Watts Property has been heavily involved with the continued development of Admiral Park.

You can find the full report ONLINE, revealing that 25% of St Peter Ports’ office space could be considered primary, and 28% tertiary.

“We hope these findings can now be used to assist the States of Guernsey in their decision-making within this sector,” said Mr Lai.