STAFF from a Hampshire house builder will be moving into a landmark office building as part of a £1.5 million deal.

Scores of officer workers from Taylor Wimpey will be taking over a vacant office block at Wessex Business Park after a deal was brokered by property consultancy firm JLL.

They were acting on behalf of Culverdene Court Ltd in the sale of Culverdene Court, which is based in Colden Common and lies between Winchester and Southampton.

Since the Environment Agency moved out of the building five years ago to offices in Romsey Culverdene Court has remained empty.

Ninety members of the firm’s regional strategic land and legal teams will move from offices in Chandler’s Ford to the site.

Nella Pang, associate director at JLL in Southampton, said: “Since the introduction of permitted development rights for office-to-residential conversions we’ve seen a large number of buildings across the south coast be converted for residential use.

“This has resulted in a lack of good quality office space in the region so it is excellent to see that this building will be retained for office use – and that it will be subject to a full refurbishment.”

David Brown, managing director of Taylor Wimpey Southern Counties, said: “We are very much looking forward to moving to our new offices at Wessex Business Park.

“Our old premises in Chandler’s Ford have served us well for many years but this deal gives us the opportunity to move into a fully refurbished office building which will better suit our business needs.”

Mark Unwin, director of Culverdene Court Ltd, said: “We were very pleased with the support provided by JLL in securing the sale of the property.”

The Environment Agency relocated area office workers from there to Canal Walk, Romsey, five years ago.