Summer school holidays, coupled with rail strikes in the latter half of July, have had only a limited impact on office occupancy figures in the UK, with the latest findings from Remit Consulting showing national average occupancy stable at around 29% over the past four weeks.
For the week ending 11 August, the UK national average office occupancy rate was 29.1%.
In the capital, the West End showed robust numbers with an occupancy rate of 45.2%, while the City and Docklands markets were lower, with occupancy rates at 25.8% and 35.1% respectively.
The middle of the week, particularly, remains the preferred time for office-goers, with national occupancy rates ranging from 34.1% to 35.3% between Tuesday and Thursday last week. The occupancy rate on Friday 11 August saw a significant drop to 17.3%.
Lorna Landells of Remit Consulting said that despite anticipated disruptions from the school holidays, particularly the early break in Scotland, and the recent rail strikes, occupancy rates have remained consistent.
"Our survey also reveals reduced car parking and visitor figures, confirming that we're in the midst of the summer slowdown."
Previous studies have deliberated on what constitutes maximum occupancy for offices. Pre-pandemic estimates suggested a range of 60% to 80%, depending on various factors including holidays, staff absences, and external commitments. Remit says industry experts are continuing to monitor what is the "new normal" in office occupancy rates.
Remit Consulting bases its weekly Return Report on data provided by building managers from office buildings in major cities around the UK, many in central and prime locations. The data is obtained from the buildings’ access control systems, providing an overview of the number of staff and visitors entering a property on weekdays. This is presented as a percentage of the capacity of each building.