Property bosses have welcomed the government’s planned lifting of work-from-home guidance, hailing it as a major step in bringing life back into the UK’s beleaguered towns and city centres.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson confirmed that employees will no longer be told by the government to work from home from 19 July, when most pandemic restrictions in England are due to be lifted.
The prime minister said it would not be necessary for businesses to tell employees to stay away from the office as Covid-19 laws are relaxed, and that the move would allow companies to start planning for a safe return to workplaces.
Alistair Elliott, chairman at Knight Frank, said the agency giant “wholeheartedly welcomes the lifting of guidance to work from home”.
“While this was imperative at the beginning of the pandemic, we look forward to seeing our great towns and cities fill up again, bringing all the benefits that the best collaborative workplaces create: from helping businesses to increase learning and networking, better ideas, enhanced wellbeing, client engagement and fun.”
British Property Federation chief Melanie Leech said the announcement was “positive” news. “Office workers underpin our town and city centre ecosystems – many high street businesses, from cafés to gyms, depend on footfall from nearby offices,” she said.
“While the future of the office will no doubt include a home-office hybrid for more employees, offices will remain a hub for collaboration, creativity and productivity, and there is increasing evidence that many people are keen to return to their offices when the guidance allows them to do so.”
Confidence boost for tenants and investors
The lifting of the guidance comes as the UK office investment activity hit its highest level since February 2020, boosted by a number of £100m-plus transactions in the central London market.
Mat Oakley, head of commercial research at Savills, said: “As ever, investors are ahead of the occupational curve and are betting that prime and core will weather any Covid-related structural changes better than the rest.
“The removal of the ‘work from home if you can’ guidance from 19 July will vindicate these investors’ confidence, and I expect a steady recovery in leasing volumes through the second half of 2021 and into 2022.
“Tenant requirements levels have risen over the past six months, and the latest announcement on the Covid roadmap should enable some tenants to action these requirements with more confidence than they would have had earlier this year.”
City of London Corporation policy chair Catherine McGuinness said the move would help businesses “make up for months of lost trading”.
“We need a strong economy to help pay for the vast amount of support provided since the pandemic began. We look forward to the safe return of City workers, who will help restore vibrancy to our streets.”
Interim director of lobby group London First Muniya Barua also welcomed the move, but added that it should be accompanied by a concerted push to get people back on to public transport systems in the capital.
She said: “The government should now send a clear message that public transport and workplaces are safe, with work from home no longer the default, so we can start bringing people back together in the capital again.
“It should also commit to a three-pronged plan to accelerate the capital’s recovery, including a big push to attract commuters and holidaymakers back, funding to maintain public transport and a major reskilling programme.”
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