There’s been a lot of noise over the last few years about the office.
Hybrid working. Empty desks. The death of the workplace.
But if you’re actually in it, day to day… you’ll know that’s not really what’s happening.
What’s actually happening is simpler.
The gap between good offices and great ones has widened. A lot.
People aren’t resisting the office… they’re resisting bad ones
Most businesses we speak to aren’t asking whether people should come in.
They’re asking something slightly more uncomfortable,
“Why would they want to?”
And that’s where things have changed.
Because five years ago, “good enough” space did the job.
Now it doesn’t.
If the environment feels tired, inefficient, or just… forgettable, people notice. Quietly at first. Then it starts to show up in attendance, in engagement, in retention.
No one says it outright. But you can feel it.
The pressure has shifted onto the building itself
This is where Property and Asset Managers are feeling it most.
The role used to be more operational. Keep things running. Keep tenants happy. Deliver returns.
Now… it’s different.
You’re not just managing a building anymore, you’re shaping an experience.
One that has to compete with people’s homes, their routines, their flexibility.
That’s not a small shift.
It means thinking about things that weren’t always front of mind, how the space feels at 9am, whether people actually want to stay past lunch, whether it helps teams work better together, not just sit near each other.
And at the same time, you’re balancing ESG targets, cost pressures, and expectations from above that haven’t exactly softened.
And the market isn’t making it easier
There’s another layer to this.
The best space is getting harder to find.
Across Central London, particularly places like Mayfair and St James’s, there simply isn’t enough high quality stock. Even the City, which historically had more flexibility, is starting to feel tight.
A lot of new developments are being secured before they even complete.
So by the time occupiers are ready to move… the options are already limited.
Which creates an interesting dynamic.
Because demand hasn’t disappeared. It’s just become more selective.
People will wait. Or they’ll pay more.
But they won’t settle.
"Demand is stabilised and polarised” between best-in-class and secondary stock" JLL December 2025
You can see it in the numbers, but you feel it more in conversations
On paper, demand is still slightly negative.
But that doesn’t tell the full story.
Prime rents are holding. In some areas, they’re pushing on.
West End growth is strong. The City is stabilising.
Meanwhile, secondary space is sitting there longer than anyone would like.
So you end up with two markets running side by side.
One moving. One stuck.
"Central London demand reached ~13.7 million sq ft, around 50% above long-term average" The Langham Estate November2025
Flex space is filling the gap, but it’s not the end game
We’re also seeing more businesses using serviced offices as a stopgap.
Not because they want to stay there long term.
But because they don’t have the right permanent option yet.
It’s a holding pattern.
A way to stay agile while they wait for something better to come along.
Which again… says a lot about where expectations are.
So what does this actually mean?
If you’re responsible for a building, or a portfolio, you already know the answer.
There’s more pressure. More scrutiny. Less room to get it wrong.
Because the office is no longer just a cost line on a balance sheet.
It’s part of how a business competes. For talent. For culture. For performance.
And the uncomfortable truth is,
if the space doesn’t support that, it gets found out.
Not overnight. But it happens.
One final thought
People aren’t coming back to the office because they’re told to.
They’re coming back when it feels worth it.
And that decision… more often than not… sits with the people shaping the space itself.