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What is flex?

What Is Flex? A 2025 Guide for Landlords & Asset Owners.

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For landlords and asset owners, flexible workspace (“flex”) has moved from a nice-to-have to a core portfolio strategy. Work patterns have diversified, and organisations of every size expect ready-to-use space with options on terms, layout and services — without compromising security or digital performance. That’s where flex comes in.

When businesses can’t adapt space quickly due to time, budget or fit-out constraints, teams feel it: productivity drops, satisfaction slides, and growth stalls. Flex helps by delivering move-in-ready space that can scale up or down, reconfigure easily, and layer in services that keep operations running smoothly. For landlords, offering flex — sometimes called space-as-a-service — is an effective way to attract and retain tenants with workspace products designed around how teams actually work today.

What do we mean by “flex”?

When we talk about flex or space-as-a-service, we’re not just talking about coworking. Flex is office space that’s move-in-ready and backed by flexible layout, terms, growth/shrink options, and a clear service layer — all delivered with a premium physical and digital experience, and enterprise-grade security.

Think of flex as a spectrum of products and services, including:

  • Hot desks and coworking memberships

  • Private offices and team suites

  • Spec/managed suites with configurable fit-outs

  • Enterprise-grade meeting rooms with simple, reliable booking and access

  • Shorter, service-rich agreements compared with traditional long leases

As a result, landlords aren’t limited to provisioning real estate alone. You’re curating a broader mix of value-added services and amenities — from reception and mail handling to meetings/events support, wellness and community programming — while ensuring consistent, secure digital experiences across locations.

Market forecasts vary by region and source, but the direction of travel is clear: occupier demand for flexible products continues to rise, and portfolios that can adapt quickly are better placed to capture it.

Flex delivers outstanding occupier experiences.

Getting flex right means delivering a day-to-day experience that tenants value and renew for. The four cornerstones of satisfaction remain:

  1. Engagement & community — communications, events and support that make the workplace useful and active.

  2. Amenity & space management — the right mix of rooms and zones, clear availability, and frictionless booking.

  3. Value-added services — concierge, meeting & AV support, mail/parcel, wellness — priced clearly and delivered reliably.

  4. IT & network infrastructure — secure, segmented connectivity; portfolio-level identity and access; auditability.

What’s new for 2025: consistency at scale. Leading owners standardise service tiers, SLAs and policies so occupiers get a predictable experience across buildings and cities. Data from usage and bookings now informs product mix and pricing, while door-side experiences (e.g., booking + access for meeting rooms) tighten billing, reduce “squatting”, and improve satisfaction without extra admin.

The benefits of flex for landlords.

Flex isn’t just good for occupiers and their teams; it also benefits landlords:

  • Attract demand and reduce vacancy in competitive sub-markets

  • Sustain occupancy with a ladder of products that flex with tenant needs

  • Improve revenue per sq ft with service-led products and monetised meeting spaces

  • Gain operational insight from real usage data to guide pricing, layout and capex

Want a deeper dive into what tenants expect from a flex workspace? See our Digital Tenant Expectations guide here. 

Getting started (or levelling up) in 2025.

  1. Define a small set of flex SKUs (e.g., hot desk, dedicated desk, private office, managed/spec suite) with clear inclusions and upsells.

  2. Standardise your service layer — reception, meeting services, wellness, support — and publish SLAs your teams can deliver consistently.

  3. Harden the digital foundation — secure networking, identity, and access with portfolio-level policy and audit trails.

  4. Monetise the moments that matter — treat meeting rooms as revenue products with instant booking and enforced access; reduce leakage and disputes.

  5. Measure and iterate — track utilisation, satisfaction and margin by product, then rebalance layout and pricing per location.

 

In summary.

Flex is no longer an experiment. It’s a portfolio strategy that aligns real estate with the way organisations work now — and over the next cycle. Landlords and asset owners who deliver consistent, secure, service-rich experiences are best placed to attract, retain and grow high-value occupiers.