Big work from home shift for the UK
The UK is undergoing a significant shift in work patterns, with office occupancy stabilising above 40% for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic upended traditional working life.
This signals that the mass return-to-office movement may be settling into a new normal rather than continuing to surge or stall, data from Remit Consulting shows.
The group’s data shows that average office attendance across major UK regional markets has remained consistently above 40% every week since early January 2026.
The figures hit a new post-pandemic high of 44.1% in the week ending January 30, before dipping slightly to 42.2% during the February half-term school holiday week, then rebounding to similar levels.
Lorna Landells, Director at Remit Consulting and co-author of the report, described the trend as a key milestone.
“Occupancy consistently above 40% is an important signal and suggests that office attendance is becoming more predictable, rather than continuing to fluctuate week by week,” she said. “The regional picture is especially encouraging, with cities that previously lagged now showing firmer patterns of attendance.”
Sector-specific
The data highlights a growing divergence between sectors. Investment banking stands out for its aggressive push toward in-person work, with some firms implementing high-profile five-day office mandates.
This shift is driven by the fast-paced nature of markets, the need for real-time collaboration and risk management, as well as significant investments in new headquarters and long-term lease commitments that reinforce office-centric cultures.
By comparison, many other professional services sectors continue to embrace hybrid models, prioritising flexibility for employees.
“What we are seeing is not a single return-to-office story, but sector-specific behaviour. Banking has always had a strong in-person culture, and that is now being reasserted. In other sectors, flexibility remains part of the operating model. For landlords and investors, that divergence is important as it suggests that demand patterns are no longer uniform,” Landells said.
Regional variations also persist, though the overall picture shows greater consistency than in previous years. Cities like Birmingham and Newcastle have regularly reported occupancy above 40% in recent periods, while Glasgow, which had lagged for several years, is now edging toward 30%.
For context, pre-pandemic offices were rarely 100% full on any given day due to holidays, meetings, sickness, and other factors – with estimates from bodies like the British Council for Offices suggesting typical peak occupancy around 60%, and some practitioners citing 70-80%.
Adjusted for those realities, today’s stabilised 40%+ levels represent meaningful progress toward recovery, though still well below full pre-2020 utilisation.
