Search Results for: real estate

Décor matters but location most important factor for the ideal office

Décor matters but location most important factor for the ideal office 0

Office workersRecent data has shown that increasingly, it’s people, not cost, which is the primary driver behind real estate decisions. British Land has carried out research into what features would make up the UK workers’ ideal office and the results point to a clear link between delivering these ideal features and talent recruitment and retention. The good news is that the workers surveyed believe they would be 36 percent more productive at work if they were working in the ideal office, and, 86 percent say they’d stay longer with an employer that had the ideal office location and features. The other side of the coin is that 80 percent believe that companies that don’t offer their employees a convenient location and attractive features are more likely to lose them. Younger workers in particular are markedly more likely to move jobs to find a working environment that suits them, and this includes offering a workplace with a ‘buzz’.

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World cities are victims of own success as high costs price out businesses

World cities are victims of own success as high costs price out businesses 0

New York CityThe two highest ranking global cities in the world, London and New York (as measured in the A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index), are also the most expensive for businesses and workers to occupy. According to Savills latest Live/Work Index, which measures the combined cost of residential and office rental per person per year across leading world class cities, the cost of accommodating an employee in London (US$112,800) is more than double that of Sydney, ($49,500). The average total cost of accommodation per worker, per year in the 20 cities that were measured is US$56,855, in a list that includes established world cities and some dynamic up and coming rivals, dubbed “upstarts” by Savills. The rise of the digital economy has pushed these smaller cities, such as Berlin (population 4.3 million) and Dublin (1.7 million) into the realm of world class city status; with San Francisco seeing the greatest price rise over 2015, up by 13 percent, compared to a 9 percent fall in Moscow and Rio de Janeiro.

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Open plan offices linked to low engagement and workplace satisfaction levels

Open plan offices linked to low engagement and workplace satisfaction levels 0

Open plan officeAs we’ve pointed out before, while open plan working can bring cultural benefits such as improved communication and collaboration; the continuing popularity of the open plan office is largely down to cost. The reason the UK has more than twice as many open plan workers as the global average is primarily due to high real estate costs. Now a new report from Steelcase suggests that space and cost-saving strategies such as open plan offices and hot-desking could be impacting workplace satisfaction and engagement. UK employees are falling below the global average for almost all workplace satisfaction metrics, reporting a lack of control over their work environment (59 percent), difficulties concentrating (43 percent) and an inability to work without being interrupted (50 percent). These three factors were found to be central to fostering an engaged and satisfied workforce. Only 29 percent of UK workers are engaged, compared to 34 percent globally.

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Why WELL rather than green is the new black in building design

Why WELL rather than green is the new black in building design 0

Building design WELLBusinesses that seek to occupy premium or grade A office accommodation are traditionally seduced by the next big thing. What was once a bespoke architectural design, then became an icon, a taller building, one made of glass and finally the inevitable iconic, tall, glass tower. Now it seems a good number of those businesses have moved on to green buildings as a must have upgrade to the skyscrapers of glass and steel. Green, it appears, is the new black. But is that really the next big thing or is being green merely the last big thing? Even worse, does going green in terms of building design actually deliver the types of benefits that an occupier or landlord was anticipating, beyond the significance of branding and an alignment with grade A quality office space? The green building narrative is a particularly powerful one and the growth of LEED and BREEAM rated buildings over the last decade is proof of that power.

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Smart Cities emerging rapidly in China due to increasing urbanisation

Smart Cities emerging rapidly in China due to increasing urbanisation 0

Hangzhou“Smart Cities” are emerging as a major force in China. According to a recent CoreNet Global report, China’s urban population surpassed that of the rural population in 2011 and it is estimated that by 2035 there will be more than 70 percent of the population living in urban areas.  That urbanisation is creating more pressure for China to leverage digital technology to create smarter cities, which are defined as metro areas that leverage digital technology and intelligent design to facilitate sustainability, along with high-quality living and high-paying jobs. Initially, there were several ‘beachhead’ cities that embraced Smart City initiatives such as Hangzhou (above), Chongqing and Chengdu. Subsequently, the China Central Government issued clear guidelines to roll out smart cities in a systematic and more widespread way. While smart cities are definitely on the long-term agenda for China’s strategic planning, their impact on corporate real estate and site location decisions remains to be determined.

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War for talent and dwindling supply in London boosts regional office market

War for talent and dwindling supply in London boosts regional office market 0

Minerva in LeedsLondon office supply is at an all-time low according to JLL’s latest research, with around 18 million sq ft of offices required, but less than 7 million sq ft under construction. This is one of the reasons why 2015 saw a surge in pre-leasing activity across the Big 6 regional office markets, comprising Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, with 850,000 sq ft let across 17 transactions compared with 15 over the five years from 2010-14. The survey shows that rental growth and refurbishment are key themes with refurbishment schemes totalling 800,000 sq ft will be delivered in 2016, with a further 10 new schemes totalling one million sq ft due to start. Greater convergence between HR and real estate also means the war for talent is a factor influencing occupier decision making. CEOs continue to cite a shortage of skills as a concern, as many Gen Z students are expected to leave their first job within a few years.

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London’s top law firms embrace open plan design to offset rent rises

London’s top law firms embrace open plan design to offset rent rises 0

London law firms Ince & CoLondon’s largest law firms are reducing their office space and radically rethinking their property strategies as a way of dealing with the endlessly rising rents in the districts in which they prefer to base themselves. According to research from CBRE the one hundred legal firms that occupy the largest amount of square footage in the Capital experienced rent rises of 7 percent in 2015 to an average of £43 per sq ft. Many of the CBRE Legal 100 firms, 95 of which are now located in the City, have been responding to rising costs by taking less space and occupying more efficiently, and a significant number are shifting to open plan working. Last year, there were 63 relocations, 19 percent more than the previous year, pushing office take-up in the legal sector to 12 percent above the 10 year average. Yet while the CBRE Legal 100 firms are downsizing their footprint in London, international firms are in expansion mode.

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Commercial property costs organisations more than commonly supposed

Commercial property costs organisations more than commonly supposed 0

commercial-propertyThe British Council for Office (BCO) has released a new report which questions the commercial property industry’s commonly ‘accepted wisdom’ that if you break down overall business operation costs, 80 percent of the total goes on salaries and 10 percent on property, with other expenses making up the rest. The BCO’s analysis has found that a more realistic split is 55 percent (salaries), 15 percent (property) and 30 percent (other business costs). So while salaries continue to dominate overall costs, property and non-property business costs play a greater role than the commonly received idea. The BCO believes this clearer understanding of how much property represents of overall business costs will now change, influence and underpin business decisions. This new analysis may also have an impact on rental forecast and could also affect the impact of changing business rates – affecting what organisations may be able to afford.

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High urban rents and falling rural land prices drive flight of startups to countryside

High urban rents and falling rural land prices drive flight of startups to countryside 0

Country_MouseWe’ve reported before on the flight of tech firms and other startups from the UK’s cities to the countryside. Now it appears that 2016 will see an acceleration in the exodus, as a consequence of the perfect storm of expensive rents in the cities, falling rural land prices and a growing number of people using technology  and improving digital infrastructure to live somewhere they feel they have a more balanced life. That is the striking conclusion of a new survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Royal Agricultural University (RAU) indicates. Over the second half of 2015, non-farmers, such as those starting-up cottage industries, accounted for around 25 per cent of rural land sales. This figure was up from just 18 per cent in the first half of 2015, according to the RICS/RAU Rural Land Market Survey H2 2015 and the trend was strongest in South East England where non-farmers accounted for 32 per cent of all sales.

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What the commercial property market tells us about trends in office design

What the commercial property market tells us about trends in office design 0

Hive by Connection

It’s become commonplace in recent years for certain people to foresee the death of the office. The problem with this argument is that, in spite of its drawbacks, office life maintains an attraction for both employers and employees and there will always be an upper limit on how long people want to spend away from other people. Things are changing but the death of the office is a myth. As we’ve known for at least a quarter of a century, there is no absolute need for us to go to work at all. Theoretically we could just do away with offices completely if we wanted to. But as we have seen, the fact we have evolved technology to the point where we could forget about bricks and mortar, doesn’t necessarily mean we will. Not only are there practical reasons for offices to continue to exist, there are emotive ones too. If you want evidence of this, look no further than the records currently being set by the UK’s commercial property markets.

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Record investment in UK commercial property in 2015, but trouble ahead

Record investment in UK commercial property in 2015, but trouble ahead 0

IQ_officeA near record £67.5 billion was invested in UK commercial property in 2015, making it the second strongest year on record and 46 per cent above the 10-year average, according to research from commercial property analysts CoStar Group. Momentum slowed sharply in the second half of the year, with investment down 19 per cent from the previous year. According to CoStar, this reflects the fact that investment activity has been especially strong over the previous 18 months and good opportunities are harder to find, but also that global economic and political uncertainty are impacting investment decisions. Nevertheless, 2015 was a strong year for the UK’s Big Six regional cities. Office investment increased 16 per cent to £3.2 billion, which is the highest level since the recession and more than double the eight-year average. Foreign investors seeking standing assets and development opportunities underpinned much of this investment.

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The future of next generation TMT workplaces explored in new report

The future of next generation TMT workplaces explored in new report 0

TMT WorkplaceA new report from property adviser Cushman & Wakefield claims to outline the key future property trends for TMT workplaces based on the views of decision makers from global Fortune 500 organisations, architects, designers, founders of start-ups and high-growth businesses. The Future of the TMT Workplace report produced in association with Unwork, identifies the key forces ‘driving change and necessitating TMT players to fundamentally rethink their workplace strategies’. These include frictionless growth, engineered serendipity, the ‘gig’ economy, the pace of technological change, demand for top technological talent far outstripping supply and where to locate in order to succeed.At this week’s launch event for the report, a panel of expert speakers agreed that workplaces have a critical for TMT firms to respond to challenges such as the need to attract the most talented tech workers.

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