Substantial Demand For Flexible Space In London’s Residential Hotspots

• Research from Workthere reveals increased demand for flexible office space in London’s residential areas.
• This trend “is a clear indicator of businesses and, in particular, individuals wanting a workspace option closer to home.”
• It correlates with earlier research (October) showing that over a quarter of total demand was for suburban flexible office space.

According to research from Workthere, residential hotspots that sit in the ‘doughnut’ around Central London have seen a significant increase in demand for flexible offices.

In particular, searches have increased by 669% in Clapham, 413% in Harrow and 327% in Stratford, Lewisham, London Fields and Tottenham respectively.

The flexible office specialist says that this rise in interest for serviced and coworking space outside of Central London is a clear indicator of businesses and, in particular, individuals wanting a workspace option closer to home.

This is further supported by the fact that Workthere’s October sentiment survey showed that demand for UK suburban flexible office space accounted for over a quarter of total demand.

Cal Lee, global head of Workthere, comments: “The trend of wanting to combine a workspace closer to home with going into a main central office has inevitably been accelerated over the last eight months and we are now starting to see this come to fruition with demand levels rising for more suburban locations.”

Despite the fact that demand is increasing for these less central London boroughs, Workthere notes that Clapham only has two existing coworking spaces currently in situ, whilst Stratford has four and Wimbledon only one. 

Cal Lee, Global head of Workthere, comments: “Central London is and will continue to be a leading global hub for flexible office space with large and independent providers well represented across the City and West End markets.

“However, given that demand levels for more suburban locations are increasing by such substantial levels, we would expect to see more of these names also look to establish a presence in wider London Boroughs and take advantage of the current supply / demand imbalance.”