We believe it is still too early to be future gazing as to the long-term change in working behaviour post-Covid-19 and how new working from home practices and adoption of new technology will affect office demand. Data from Eurostat shows the proportion of workers who have worked at home prior to the coronavirus by country. 35.7% of Dutch and 34.7% of Swedish workers have previously worked from home (see below), more than any other European country. As a result, we anticipate office demand could be more resilient in these countries as companies have already put home working to the test.

The initial return to work is likely to include staggered working hours, with only essential teams returning to the workplace firstly due to social distancing measures. Research from Workthere indicates that flexible office enquiries fell by 80% during the lockdown. We expect to see a bounceback in the short-medium term, as occupiers reassess their portfolios on the return to work. In the medium-longer term, we may see a shift to lower occupational densities and more demand for agile workspace. On the other hand, we expect the number of workers choosing to work from home could soften space requirements.

Of course, many workers are eager to return to the office. Some occupiers are reviewing whether business parks may better suit their needs in the light of Covid-19, given their suburban location and lower occupational density. This could see new demand for flexible office hubs in satellite cities to provide short-medium term accommodation for workers. For example, we are seeing a number of major investment banks using their emergency trading floors across satellite cities to mitigate the risk of infection. In the longer term, transport connectivity and proximity to key transport nodes will play an increasingly important role across Europe to minimise commutes as workers are more able to carry out certain tasks at home. Tenants with upcoming lease expiries will have two options: renew or relocate to more cost-effective/less-dense locations.

_{Read the articles within European Offices Outlook below.}