he boss of serviced offices giant IWG today blasted a lack of sound government policy on affordable housing as the firm reported a surge in demand for workspace in the suburbs.
Mark Dixon, who founded the business in 1989, told the Standard: “The affordability of London housing is not very good [and] people are fed up with the cost of travel.
“You’ll only get people back to an office in London if they live close by.
“It’s about government policy and local London policy.”
Dixon said the firm was eyeing opening more sites in the capital’s suburban districts to match new working trends. A new site will open shortly in Battersea, with more on the way for Barnet, Lambeth and Hampstead.
“London can’t just be a city for the wealthy,” said Dixon, who has a net worth of $1 billion according to an estimate by Forbes.
“We’re seeing governments [overseas] starting to embrace the provision of affordable housing.
“That’s what they’re doing in Paris and New York.”
It comes amid a war of words between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and London Mayor Sadiq Khan over a shortage of housing in the capital.
Sunak accused Khan of “failing to deliver” on housebuilding after he unveiled a £200 million commitment to building new homes on brownfield sites in the capital.
But Khan hit back, describing the remarks as “desperate nonsense.”
“Are you the same guy who dropped his housebuilding targets? Because I’m the guy who started building more council homes than the rest of England combined,” he said.
There were 25,658 affordable housing starts in London in the year to March, according to data by the Greater London Authority, an increase of 36% on the previous year, while completions in the capital rose 35% to 13,954.
IWG, formerly known as Regus, today said it had seen an acceleration in demand for office space as major employers ditched major head offices in favour of smaller, flexible alternatives. IWG said it had signed contracts on 400 new locations in the first six months of the year in a bid to keep pace with demand.
Revenue in the first half of 2023 rose 14% to £1.5 billion, while gross profits were up 37% to £297 million.
Dixon said firms in the banking and insurance sectors have been among those most willing to shift from large head offices to smaller local outposts.
“Companies need flexibility – they don’t know what their business will look like in 5 years’ time,” he said.