Five years ago, it would have been hard to believe that offices would no longer be at the top of the typical real estate investor’s wish list, let alone experience such a dramatic decline. In 2019, the London office market saw £11.3 billion (€13.6 billion) worth of transactions, and the sector was seen as an environment in which capital could be scaled with minimal operational involvement.

Yet fallen out of favour they have, with that figure falling to £5.2 billion (€6.3 billion) in 2023 and expected to be even lower in 2024, at around £4.3 billion (€5.2 billion) as of September this year. Several factors have contributed to this decline, though not all are structural or permanent, which is why some investors are cautiously reentering the office market. And it is why those who do sooner rather than later are likely to be the big winners in the much more substantial “return to office” debate.

The fall from grace

The decline of offi