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Return to work boost for commercial landlords

Commercial landlords may be tentatively breathing a sigh of relief as figures show a gradual return to the office after months of home working during the pandemic.

July 19 was when lockdown rules eased further, however new data shows there has not been a significant rise in staff numbers returning to offices since then, with factors like the ‘pingdemic’ and school holidays coming into play.

Remit Consulting has been looking at figures provided by building managers. The number of people entering as a percentage of the capacity for each building has been analysed.

Lorna Landells at the management consultancy company said the study, which analyses over 150 buildings in nine cities, established that, prior to July 19, the average number of office staff attending their place of work on any given weekday fluctuated at around 11 per cent for six weeks.

She added: “There was no significant change in the figures for the week of ‘freedom day’ when the national average was 11.5 per cent, an increase of just 0.4 per cent compared to the week before.”

The report listed a number of factors that could have impacted the return to office by some people, including the so-called recent ‘pingdemic’ leaving many workers having to self-isolate.

There was also the start of the school holidays, meaning a number of staff could be on annual leave.

Numerous companies have had office-based staff working from home since March 2020, although some landlords have reported increasing occupation levels of office sites in recent months.

The Government is no longer instructing people to work from home if they can, but a gradual return over the rest of the summer is expected, with many employers unlikely to ask everyone back at the same time.

Flexible working, with employers offering a mix of home and office hours post-pandemic , is expected to become more common.

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