"This year, we will see far more “hybrid” buildings - part long-lease, part flex, part swing space that can be interchanged depending on market conditions. For landlords, this provides resilience. If one segment underperforms, other floors or units can be repurposed without impacting the whole building"
- Nick Riesel - FreeOfficeFinder
Over the last few years, the office market has shifted from asking “how do we get people back to the office?” to a more commercial question: “how do we make every square foot work harder?”
Hybrid working is now the default for most medium and large occupiers. That doesn’t mean offices are redundant, but it does mean demand looks very different.
Fewer businesses are willing to commit to long, inflexible leases, and far more want space that can flex with headcount, project cycles, and changing attendance patterns.
At the same time, there is a clear flight to quality. Companies are consolidating out of older, under-spec buildings and trading up into better located, amenity-rich space. But they don’t want to take 10-15-year bets to get it.
That growing gap between what occupiers want and what the traditional lease offers is where the next phase of the office market is being shaped.
Flex will become a permanent line item
Flexible space is no longer a stopgap or temporary solution. For many occupiers, it now sits alongside, not instead of, a leased HQ.
Enquiries for flexible offices are already significantly higher than double pre-pandemic levels, and that demand is being seen consistently across the UK. In Bristol, the South East and the North West, enquiries for managed and serviced office space have grown roughly 37-42% since 2019, while demand for traditional leased offices has fallen.
Throughout 2026, most medium and large occupiers will allocate a defined share of their footprint to flexible space as standard. In response, landlords are increasingly building portfolios that offer a mix of leased, serviced, and managed space - giving occupiers the ability to scale, take on short-term projects, or test new locations without committing to long leases.
Flex allows landlords to optimise revenue per desk and reduce vacancy risk, as space can be adapted or repurposed quickly in response to changing occupier needs.
For landlords, this means flex can no longer sit at the edges of a portfolio. It needs to be treated as a core part of the building’s offer. Buildings that deliver flex alongside traditional leasing are better positioned to attract occupiers seeking agility and choice.
Hybrid portfolios will replace single-HQ thinking
The traditional idea of one big, permanent headquarters is being replaced by more distributed, multi-hub footprints.
In city centres, best-in-class, well-connected buildings continue to perform strongly, while secondary stock struggles. Flexible space in prime locations does particularly well because it allows occupiers to access those markets without committing to long leases or major fit-out costs.
Hybrid working is also driving demand for regional and suburban hubs. Many firms now want smaller offices closer to where staff live, rather than concentrating everyone in one central business district location. Flexible and managed solutions are ideal here, making it possible for landlords to reconfigure floorplates quickly for satellite hubs, project offices or local teams.
This year, we will see far more “hybrid” buildings - part long-lease, part flex, part swing space that can be interchanged depending on market conditions. For landlords, this provides resilience. If one segment underperforms, other floors or units can be repurposed without impacting the whole building.
Offices will have to earn the commute
Hybrid hasn’t killed the office - it has changed what ‘good’ looks like. Employees will travel when the space gives them something they can’t get at home.
That means high-quality fit-out, hospitality-style service, shared meeting suites, wellness facilities, strong technology, and spaces designed for collaboration and experience, not just rows of desks.
Flexible operators are often better placed to deliver this quickly and cost-effectively, because they can spread fit-out and service investment across multiple occupiers. For landlords, this is increasingly where value is created: not just in the square footage, but in the experience wrapped around it.
Buildings that offer features like bookable meeting suites, podcast studios, wellness zones, or high-tech hot desks are seeing stronger interest from occupiers. Even simple amenities, such as integrated booking systems or flexible breakout spaces, can differentiate a building in a crowded market.
ESG will move from compliance to commercial advantage
ESG is now a core drive of office strategy, not an afterthought. Occupiers with net-zero and wellbeing targets are under pressure to move into energy-efficient, well-certified buildings and to avoid being locked into outdated stock that will become a liability. Older, non-compliant offices are already seeing higher vacancy and pricing pressure.
Flexible and managed models help both sides. Operators can invest in efficient systems, smart building technology and high-quality fit-out, then spread that cost across multiple occupiers. Tenants gain access to ESG-aligned space, without taking on the capital burden themselves.
By the end of 2026, buildings that cannot demonstrate strong sustainability credentials will struggle to compete, regardless of location. Landlords that invest in ESG now are not only meeting occupier expectations, but also future-proofing their assets against regulatory changes, higher operating costs, and from becoming outdated or uncompetitive in the market.
With hybrid working here to stay, the rise of flexible space, amenity-rich environments and ESG expectations, the landlords that adapt now will not only attract the best occupiers, but also ensure their buildings remain relevant and resilient for years to come.
