They will also relax restrictions on change-of-use proposals for historic city office buildings that cannot cost-effectively be upgraded to grade A

The softening in planning policy comes after Corporation chiefs commissioned Arup and agent Knight Frank to assess future demand in the financial district post-pandemic.

It is anticipated that workers will continue to return to the office, with the number of people now coming into the city each day, mid-week, at 80% of 2019 levels and 65% for Mondays and Fridays.

The report highlights that the steady return to office work could see demand for up to 20 million sq ft of additional office space up to 2042.

Presently a ‘flight to quality’ among building tenants is seeing demand rise for best in class offices, but threatens to leave a swathe of stranded assets in the city that do not even meet ECP C ratings.

To retain office stock for which there is demand, a ‘retrofit fast-track’ planning policy would apply to applications that improve the environmental performance of buildings, while introducing a greater mix of uses, including hotels, cultural destinations, or education uses to parts of the City.

Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Planning and Transport Committee, Shravan Joshi, said: “I welcome the report’s findings which show that we are not only on the right track to meeting the amount of office space demand in the City, but also delivering the right type of space.”

Partner and head of Knight Frank’s London Development team, Andrew Tyler, said: “The ‘flight to quality’ is driving a supply shortage and competition for the very best space, while also leaving older buildings at risk of becoming stranded assets and requiring significant upgrades.

“The City needs to be able to quickly deliver more of what works best for employers and create the right conditions for the upgrading and retrofitting of older office stock.”