FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Office properties are struggling to attract and keep tenants, according to a new report from workplace access, experience, and analytics platform, Accessia. But the majority of landlords are planning drastic steps without first collecting and making use of the vast amounts of insightful data available to them.
The stats show that 18 per cent are grappling to maintain occupancy rates in their buildings and 40 per cent see transitioning to a coworking model as an opportunity for commercialisation. However, 28 per cent don’t understand what tenants want.
The report, from workplace access, experience, and analytics platform, Accessia, surveyed 200 UK asset managers. Titled Adapt to Survive: the Flex Space Revolution, it reveals that the vast majority of traditional office buildings are struggling to adapt to the changing demands of tenants, with a resounding 99% of asset managers reporting difficulty generating revenue post-pandemic.
This is in part due to the rise of hybrid working as well as the turbulent economic conditions of the last few years. As a result, the needs of smaller businesses are changing and diversifying rapidly.
In response, 40 per cent of landlords are considering offering flexible contracts as a means of earning extra revenue, many of the rest have already begun doing so, but 74 per cent are failing to first gather and analyse data generated by tenants to improve their offering.
Mark Loney, CEO of Accessia, says, “Tenant turnover, low occupancy rates, rising costs, falling revenue, and sustainability targets are all formidable challenges for office building landlords. The rise of the coworking model has compounded their problems, making the fight for tenants more competitive than ever before.
“Landlords are being forced to adopt a flexible approach themselves just to compete, but the concept is still in its infancy and the path from struggling traditional office building to profitable coworking space is not well trodden.”
The FM industry is evolving quicker than ever before, and so are the demands of the customers it serves.
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