Key Transaction Highlights
- 5,000 sq ft former community centre in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, two storeys
- Substantial EPC improvement works completed ahead of marketing to meet MEES compliance
- Long-term nursery lease secured with First Steps First
- Benefited from Class E planning flexibility for childcare/nursery use
- Vacant, ageing building brought back into active commercial use
- Increased childcare provision for the High Wycombe area
- Strong covenant secured for the landlord
Bringing a vacant Buckinghamshire community building back to life
Chandler Garvey has secured a long-term commercial property letting of Polish House, a former community centre in Micklefield, High Wycombe, to First Steps First, a regional nursery and childcare operator. The transaction brought a vacant, ageing building back into productive use for our landlord client and added much-needed nursery provision to the local area.
The property is a substantial 5,000 sq ft two-storey building in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, built around a large double-height hall with meeting rooms, offices and supporting space. It had been let piecemeal over the years to a mix of occupiers on flexible terms, leaving fragmented income and an uncertain long-term picture. After a spell of vacancy and decline, the brief was straightforward: find an occupier who could commit for the long term and bring the building back to life.
A tough commercial property market to start in
We began marketing the property at a difficult time for the wider commercial property market. Economic uncertainty and geo-political tensions had made businesses cautious about expansion, and rising costs — including higher business rates — meant fewer occupiers were willing to take on a large, standalone building that needed work. The pool of realistic candidates for a building of this size was narrow from the outset.
Advising on EPC compliance before marketing began
Before we could market the property at all, there was a hurdle to clear: it didn’t have an EPC rating good enough to support a new lease under Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations. We advised our client that the investment in improving the building’s energy performance needed to happen up front — not because it was the easy answer, but because without it the building couldn’t be let at all. It’s the kind of decision that only makes sense when you’re thinking about the asset’s future, not just the next transaction, and it’s a conversation we’re having with more Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire landlords as EPC requirements tighten across the commercial property sector.
Local market knowledge: spotting a childcare opportunity
The hall-centred layout that put off conventional office, retail and leisure occupiers turned out to be exactly what a nursery operator needed. Generous floor space, a large outdoor area, and a building with an established place in the community — all things that were a problem for a standard commercial letting and an asset for a childcare provider.
Our understanding of the High Wycombe property market — not just what was listed, but what the area actually needed — pointed to a genuine shortage of nursery places locally, driven by population growth and rising demand for childcare places. The Class E Use Class also made the change of use to childcare far more straightforward than it would have been a few years ago, removing planning constraints that used to rule this kind of reuse out.
The outcome: a long-term nursery lease secured
We ran a targeted marketing campaign aimed at established nursery operators, and secured First Steps First on a long-term lease. It gives our client a strong covenant and reliable income, handled to the standard you’d expect from an RICS-regulated firm throughout — and it gives the building a genuine future: more childcare places, local jobs, and a well-used site in Micklefield where there used to be an empty one.
If you’re considering repositioning a vacant or underperforming property, our Market a Property and Commercial Property Lettings and Sales pages have more on how we can help.
Chandler Garvey acted on behalf of the landlord throughout the marketing and leasing process.
