Why we’re abolishing Bristol’s empty offices

A group campaigning to convert disused office blocks into affordable homes has bought its first property in Bristol. Founder of Abolish Empty Office Buildings, Tony Crofts, explains why

Housing in Britain is handled on a market basis: that is, homes always go to whoever can bid highest.  As a result there are 1.8million mainly working families in this country who can’t afford to buy or rent somewhere to live.  

The average house price in Bristol is £217,300, for which you need an income of £48,000 a year to buy. All the Government is doing is helping to rev up the market to provide more luxury flats and new houses for sale – which pushes more people into the arms of the money lenders.

With Britain’s national mortgage debt at present stands at £1.3trillion, this is no remedy for the national housing crisis: it simply increases debts and prepares the ground for the next economic collapse. The  only possible solution is a vast increase in community-owned, permanently affordable housing.

Meanwhile, the superstition that only commercial building is worthwhile means that Bristol, for instance, has more than two million square feet of unlet offices, while the city, which has been forced to sell off 13,860 council houses, now has a waiting list of 14,750 people.

Good investment

This is why Abolish Empty Office Buildings (AEOB) has launched a Community Share to raise money to rescue empty sites and disused offices from the speculative market and convert them to produce affordable homes. The shares should be a good investment for your grandchildren (paying three per cent interest once flats are complete and let); and any amount from £50 up to £100,000 can be bought.

As AEOB founder, I previously founded Stonesfield Community Trust in West Oxfordshire, which now has 16 dwellings let at rents people on normal working incomes can afford.  It also owns the premises of the village pre-school, supports the primary school, and has assisted individual families with disability or social problems. It has also financed land purchase for another housing scheme in Oxford.

This shows the power of ethically invested money to cure real social problems that will never be touched by top-down government solutions, and allows local communities to manage their own lives. AEOB hopes that, once they have built their first model, it will be able to be expanded elsewhere, and copied in other towns across the country.

Real contribution

We have already bought our first site, a disused office/store in St George with planning permission to convert to four flats and build two more new ones on adjoining garden, and expect to be making a real contribution to Bristol’s year as European Green Capital.  

The building is a two-storey 1960s construction with room to create two flats on each floor and shared space, including laundry room. It already has solar voltaic panels on the roof which were installed at the high feedback rate, and are capable of being extended to increase non-carbon generation.  

Vegetable growing and children’s play area are planned in the remaining garden; and vertical gardening may be possible on the south-facing wall. A row of garages in the yard will be partly used for car parking, and partly to create workshops for residents creating employment and businesses.  Car use will be limited by encouraging a car club and cycling rather than multiple car ownership.

Our aim is to create a real community which will contribute something valuable to the neighbourhood.

If you want to find out more and to give your support, visit our website now.