Survey points to return of active office working

Regional REIT, the regional office specialist, claims office active occupation is now ahead of the pre-pandemic level as companies encourage staff back to the office.
The company claims current active office occupation has increased to 75.3% from 71.4% (February 2024), above pre-pandemic active occupancy, estimated at 70%.
It also claims that staff are in now in the office for an average of 4 days per week.
The survey is just the latest contribution to an active debate shaping government policy and rippling through every workplace in the country.
A BBC Panorama programme out today has shown that since the Covid-19 pandemic, the way we work has been transformed, with many more of us working from home.
It asks, is that good for us, and is it good for the economy?
Many bosses are now asking their staff to get back to the office, but many workers are reluctant to return. Some are even threatening strike action.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, briefly the Tory business secretary, was dead against working from home as is Sir Michael Rose, Asda chairman and a Conservative peer in the House of Lords.
The Regional REIT survey is the largest of its kind from the largest owner of regional office assets and is based on the Company’s tenants in 112 buildings across the office portfolio. The properties provide space for a broad range of different business sectors that are geographically spread across England, Scotland and Wales.
The survey’s results are based on a 74.5% response rate (by rent), with over 28,000 employees having taken part and demonstrate a continuing improvement in the return to the office trend, which is confirmed by other recent reports and studies. For example, a report by Virgin Media O2 Business Movers Index, tracking commuting behaviour in the UK, reported that the number of companies requiring employees to work from company premises three or more days a week has increased to 75% in 2024 from 67% in 2023.
Firms in the study seeking staff back in the office for at least four days a week also increased to 50%, up from 46% previously. Nearly 40% of British workers now commute five days a week according to the study.
Stephen Inglis, Asset Manager of Regional REIT and Head of ESR Europe LSPIM, said: “Our latest annual survey further confirms the significant and increasing role that ‘the office’ plays in ongoing business life, further building on the positive trends that we observed in our previous tenant surveys.
“An increase in active occupation, in tandem with employees back in the office for an average of four days per week, demonstrates a clear positive trend and an encouraging backdrop for the regional office market. This will over time, result in improving demand for office space and with limited supply, will result in improved occupancy in the UK office markets and rental growth.”