Return to the office – adjusting to the new work/life balance

Mark Ashbridge and Tom Windett take a deeper look at the influence of the working from home dynamics on the rural property market.

Work/life balance – is it finally within reach?

Here’s a question: It’s Monday, 7am. Would you rather be commuting for an hour on a packed train, or walking the dog along a beach or country path?

Pandemic adversity led most of us to reassess our priorities. “Hybrid” working – central city office working blended with a flexible mix of working from home – used to be perceived as “a luxury for the relatively affluent” (WEF). It was mostly limited to desk-based professions or executive positions, and for some, it seemed like the enviable holy grail of work/life balance.

Cue Covid 19.

In a matter of months, the pandemic achieved what many had advocated for decades – the normalising of working from home. By negotiating an office/home schedule, many can now live further away from their workplace than ever before, opening up intriguing possibilities.

Moving to the country and supporting blended work patterns was something we’d enabled pioneering clients to do long before WFH was a cultural norm. We are now delighted to widen opportunities for even more of our clients as hybrid working becomes a reality for many up and down the country.

How many office employees are actually working from home?

UK WFH figures doubled in 2020. Car ownership dropped across Britain, as did the average commute and spend on public transport.

Fast forward to 2021, and remote working is now one of the most important factors for job seekers, after salary. Some 26% of the general British workforce now want the flexibility to choose working from home as a permanent fixture.

Forward thinking and visionary leaders have often endorsed hybrid work patterns, rewarding staff for performance rather than visibility at a desk. However, after the effects of the pandemic in 2020, many others are now offsetting pandemic losses by reducing overheads like office space, and the hybrid argument has become even more compelling, particularly in sectors which are non-client-facing. Covid 19 has become an agent for cultural change on a massive scale.

Bringing retirement benefits forward to today’s working week

The benefits of a well-balanced life in the country are now becoming a tangible reality for more people. Rather than wistfully dreaming of a long-awaited retirement home in The Cotswolds or Cornwall, at retirement age, more people want to bring forward their plans for greater quality of life now.

Why country living works for today’s professionals

One of our clients – a legal professional, made the counter-cultural “hybrid leap” long before the “great reset” of 2020. We were able to help him secure prime property in The Cotswolds, and in his words, his quality of life improved immensely, largely due to the reduction of his commute.

We too have personal experience of the benefits of living in the countryside here at Ashbridge Partners. Our weekly schedule includes client meetings further afield, including in London, yet our office and personal homes are in The Cotswolds, meaning that we can advise first hand on what a move to the country can mean, and how to make it work.

The benefits of rural life are many – most obviously during lockdown, we enjoyed space, fresh air, and nature. But the longer-term benefits include a lower crime rate, community relationships, greener life-choices, and precious time with family outdoors. If connection and quality time are important to you, we can speak from personal experience.

Technical infrastructure in the country – is it ready for us?

Dramatically, 95% of tech professionals now want to work 2-5 days a week from home (HNR 2021). They are prepared to live significantly further away from their workplace than before 2020. If sectors such as cyber security, data analysis and software engineering move to the country, they will need the infrastructure to support them.

For those wondering if a move to the country would be technologically possible, one of our commercial clients, for whom we recently arranged a £3m growth capital facility is a great example. The business is a leading independent provider of fibre broadband, offering superfast connection to tens of thousands of homes and businesses in rural areas. With support from government-backed infrastructure schemes, the network is ever increasing and has supported thousands through the pandemic – and its great to see entrepreneurs facilitating other entrepreneurs to change the way they work.

Flexible work space in the country

There are, of course, those who tried WFH in pandemic conditions, and found that they need the discipline, psychological distance, or social aspect of working away from their home setting. While a move to the country is attractive for a host of reasons, the lack of segmented work space and home living can be what holds them back.

We have moved at fast pace and fast thinking businesses have been quick to catch on to this consumer need. The flexible workspace revolution that has taken cities by storm is now spreading out into the rural landscape as well.

Hatchery is one example of a new work space provider targeting rural areas, providing the type of facility normally reserved for city centers and “empowering people to work on their own terms”, offering meeting rooms, desks, workshops and co-work spaces. Their menu of choices lets those who want the best of both worlds waste less time commuting, see their families more, stay rooted in communities, and leave their work at “the office”.

https://www.hatchery.works/purpose

Image courtesy of Hatchery

Choose your Holiday Home Letting Agent Carefully

In terms of finding clients, it pays to do your homework and look for a well-reputed letting agency.

Shirley advises: We don’t live locally so we had to go for the full letting package. Our company covers everything from bedding to maintenance. It’s expensive but gives complete peace of mind when you live 4.5 hours away”

While letting your property yourself may be cheaper, the marketing and timesaving advantages an agency can offer make it a wise investment. Ask about client screenings, the platforms they advertise with, and for testimonials. Time well spent on agency vetting can make a sizeable difference to your holiday occupancy rate, and in turn, profitability.

Photo credit airbnb

Making the hybrid move to the country with the right support

If blended work patterns and a rural lifestyle appeal to you, talk to us to understand more about relocating to a location that works for your ideal life – not your working life. We know firsthand what “hybrid” living can mean for quality family time, health, and community connections. We’d love to hear from you.