Regus Office to Become 94 New Flats

An office building at a business park on the outskirts of Reading is set to be transformed to create nearly 100 apartments.

An office building at Thames Valley Park, on the outskirts of Reading, is set to be transformed into nearly 100 apartments.

The Regus offices there currently provide hireable space for businesses. Regus is a global provider of flexible workspaces with more than 300 offices nationwide.

On its website the company says: “This modern business centre places you in a desirable office park that’s home to the likes of prestigious companies in technology, energy and financial services. “Thames Valley Park in Reading is conveniently near the M4 and has a free shuttle bus service to the town centre for easy transport links. “The bright, contemporary workspaces offer you ergonomic furniture and high-speed WiFi plus on-site amenities including a cafe and video conferencing studio.”

Photos on the site show communal areas, conference rooms and workspaces — but the building’s use is due to change after the owning company won permission to convert it into 94 flats.

Plans submitted last year sought to convert the existing building into 62 flats and to add two storeys to create a further 32 flats. These were lodged as separate applications with Wokingham Borough Council, the planning authority for Earley.

A council planning officer’s report concluded the conversion complied with national policies. The project used prior approval — a permitted development route that lets some commercial buildings be turned into housing.

Prior approval can usually only be refused if future occupants would lack enough living space or daylight, and those factors must be demonstrated in the applicant’s documents.

The council’s report states: “The windows in the existing building would provide adequate natural light to all habitable rooms. It is acknowledged that some of the proposed dwellings would have just north-facing windows however, this is still deemed to be ‘adequate’.”

The conversion of the main building was approved in September 2024, allowing it to become 52 one-bed and 10 two-bed flats.

The plan to add two storeys was initially refused over concerns about how occupants would evacuate in a fire. A follow-up application this year supplied a fire evacuation strategy judged appropriate by the Health and Safety Executive, and that extension was approved this month — adding 28 one-bed and four two-bed flats.

You can view the approved conversion application on Wokingham council’s planning portal using reference 241855, the failed extension as 241853, and the approved extension as 251814.

The advert for Regus Thames Valley Park remains live. Regus still has offices at Forbury Square in Reading town centre and at Green Park in Whitley.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter