The site – which is situated at The Copperfields in Dartford, Kent – is being let by property investment company Palace Capital.

The Copperfields is a small, mixed-use shopping centre with 10,000 sq ft of office space and was acquired from Quintain PLC in October 2013.

Palace Capital took advantage of the PD legislation and secured permission to convert the first-floor office space into 13 self-contained flats.

The lease has no break and will provide a rental income of £146,500 per year, inclusive of service charge, to Palace Capital, which will rise annually by 2.5%.

The council will also benefit from a rent-free period until mid-April 2017 in lieu of works that they will be carrying out to the flats.

Neil Sinclair, the chief executive of Palace Capital, commented: "When we acquired The Copperfields there were vacant retail units, retail tenants with serious rent arrears and an office tenant where the lease had a break clause which had been exercised.

“Our brand of active management is to maximise value and income.  

“After meeting senior officers of the council to discuss their plans for the town, we placed a building contract to convert the vacant offices into flats. 

“As a result, we have secured a gilt-edged tenant in a growth location, eliminated empty rate payments on the vacant offices and have secured an income stream until 2027."