It’s a sight that is becoming ever more familiar in towns and cities across the UK – shops and offices being converted into residential use.

The changing face of the local high street is an inexorable process and it is no longer hard to imagine that in the not-too-distant future a high street will simply be a pedestrianised place of homes and coffee shops with hardly a traditional shop to be seen.

According to the latest data from Searchland, a development site sourcing specialist, there are nearly 28,000 sites with an estimated market value of over £1.5 billion located across England, primed to be converted from commercial use into residential property.

The platform compiled a list of the number of buildings that are Class MA, meaning they have permitted development rights to be converted into a residential property.

Speaking in July, housing secretary Michael Gove targeted making it easier to turn commercial premises like shops and restaurants into residential accommodation.

London has roughly a third of all England’s sites, numbering 8,985, with an estimated market value in the region of £928m. The capital is followed by the South East and East of England, at 5,729 and 2,848 respectively, with these sites worth £385.4m and £186m.

The North East has the fewest sites with the potential for conversion, at just 840, while developers also have fewer options across Yorkshire and the Humber, with 1,342 sites, as well as the East Midlands, at 1,387. These three regions only have 12.8% of England’s sites between them.

While London is home to the most properties with the required permissions, space is at a premium in the capital.

The data shows a total of 8985 sites in London with a total estimated floor area of 1,410,315 sq ft. So in London a typical commercial site has on average 157.0 sq ft of space, compared to an English average of 170.3 sq ft.

While Yorkshire and the Humber has a relatively low number of properties that can be converted, accounting for 4.8% of all stock, there’s more space in the region than any other, as commercial buildings with the required permissions average 186.3 sq ft.

This means there’s potential to either turn them into larger residential properties, or a greater number of apartments per conversion.

The East of England has the second most space, at 183.9, followed by the South West, at 178.0.

Co-founder and CEO of Searchland, Mitchell Fasanya, commented:

“Disused commercial sites are a cornerstone of the government’s approach to solving the UK’s housing problems, if the rhetoric from Michael Gove is anything to go by.

“Our data demonstrates that developers already have the opportunity to turn thousands of commercial properties into residential developments and these sites currently hold significant value in the current market.

“If you’re a developer looking for a site, availability is best in London and the South East, but if you want to buy a big commercial site Yorkshire and the Humber is the place to be.”