The Instant Group’s latest market report looks at the business challenges impacting the flexible workspace industry across the UK. The report provides a current view of the market and compares this to pre-Covid market conditions.
Some of the key findings include:
In a first for Chiswick Park, a business campus in West London, plug and play workspace will be brought to market providing greater flexibility and attracting a broader occupier mix.
Flex workspace operator, Spacemade, surveyed office stakeholders to understand how offering flex space in an office building drives value. The findings show that the demand for flex is greater than ever, where landlords believe that the need for flex will only continue to grow.
Some of the key findings include:
Recent data from Re-Leased reveals a notable decrease in the average length of office leases and a rise in short-term leases across UK, Australia and New Zealand. The data compares figures from Q1 2019 to Q1 2023.
Average lease lengths have declined by:
The article looks at the factors driving the shift and what implications this will have on the office market.
essensys’ Chief Customer Officer, James Lowery, joined the Main Stage for the Technology and Engagement panel hosted by Jonathan Avery, Head of Technology & Data Real Assets, LGIM. We roundup the highlights from the panel in this blog.
Collier’s recent global report documents the differences in each region when considering the factors that impact office demand, supply, pricing and sentiment.
For example, in North America there are challenges in improving the return to office occupancy rates where vacancy is at a 16% average. Whereas, in Europe and APAC, vacancy rates are between 8-10% with occupancy rates almost matching pre-Covid figures.
Knight Frank | Cresa’s data analysis has been shaped from 640 worldwide companies set against ever-evolving real estate ambitions. (Y)OUR SPACE investigates how the future of the workplace is likely to unfold over the next three years.
Results show that corporate real estate professionals believe complexity in the market is going to increase when considering business strategy, decision making, the workplace, to pick a few.
In addition, the majority of respondents believe their organisation’s work style will be hybrid three years from now at 55.7% followed by office first at 23.2% and remote first last at only 3.4%.
Instant’s latest UK research highlights occupier’s increased demand for flexibility and agility. This desire for additional flexibility is being reflected in the polarisation of occupancy rates between traditional and flex offices.
Occupancy rates within London continue to outpace the UK average sitting at 84%, driven by the adoption of flex from sectors that have typically favoured traditional office leases in the past. One key example is financial services firms, in the last quarter the number of flex desks occupied by the financial sector has doubled.
Clutton’s report focuses on the importance of future-proofing digital infrastructure so that the UK can cope with future technical advances that will come.
When considering the commercial sector, digital connectivity is required for asset owners to meet their ESG targets as ESG monitoring can’t work without high-grade digital capacity.
Also, as technology has evolved so have people’s expectations where, “gigabit connectivity is now more of a utility than a service. It is a necessity,” says Ian Scott, head of property at Cadogan.
Savill’s regional office spotlight provides an outlook for the UK’s Big 6 markets, including Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds and Glasgow.
One of the key observations is that people are still coming to the office and although it may not be five days a week there is a demand for first-rate space ‘where in many cases occupiers who are downsizing are willing to pay an average of 54% more rent per sq ft in order to secure a higher quality of space.’
Savills’ also reported that ‘Five of the Big 6 markets recorded prime rental increases in 2022, with Bristol and Leeds achieving 12% and 6% growth respectively.’
Rental increases are not just a trend for 2023 but will continue an upwards trajectory where Savill’s predict that ‘prime rents could be as high as £45 per sq ft in Bristol, with all of the regional Big 6 markets expecting to surpass the £40 per sq ft in 2025.’
