they could easily have rented a house or flat in a nearby town for a few hundred pounds a month.
If they have cash reserves to buy a good property, then to do the above would make no financial sense whatsoever.
An office or house to rent would probably cost itro £1k per month. Say they kept it for four years it would be a total cost of arounf £48k.
An alternative would be to use cash reserves to buy a solid property in an excellent location. The costs look like it was around £1m. Keep it four years and instead of a cost of £48k you have a profit of probably £200k.
It makes perfect financial sense.