Home offices are becoming an important part of the business landscape in London, according to a new report.
Three of the top 25 home office hotspots in the UK are London boroughs. Camden is ranked 13th in the country, while Barnet is 22nd and Westminster is 24th.
Nearly two two thirds of the top 25 hotspots can be found in the Greater South East, which includes London, the South East and East of England.
Established businesses are seeing the benefits of allowing employees to work from home. Office space in prime London areas is particularly expensive, so allowing workers to carry out tasks from their own homes could reduce the amount of space a company requires from a site.
Smart Growth Analytics principle analyst Jim Plunkett-Cole said: “Professionals and managers working for companies are now working at home, but people are also setting up their own business from home offices.
“If you are a director of a company and your workers can undertake the sort of task that can be performed remotely, particularly if your rents are high and you can lower them, then that is one way you can do it.”
The highest concentrations of home offices in London can be found along the Chelsea Embankment, where more than 13 per cent of residents living in the area work in a home office, Plunkett-Cole said. There is also a significant concentration of home offices in four small parts of Camden, he added.
Companies are now able to allow more employees to work from home due to advances in high speed broadband, which facilitates online meetings and the quick transfer of large amounts of data from person to person. Virtual offices and telephone answering services have also made it possible for more people to set up a home office.
Plunkett-Cole said employees are attracted to the convenience and flexibility of working from an office at home. He added: “Commuting is obviously a big benefit because it is incredibly expensive for people. There are also environmental benefits of reducing car journeys, particularly for people who live in remote areas.”
Workers are not missing out on the opportunity to be social, even though they work at home. Plunkett-Cole said he uses Facebook and Twitter as his “water cooler” to keep in touch with family, friends and colleagues.
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