Data from London Underground stations points to a V-shaped recovery for commuting and reveals which days we prefer to work from home.

A huge debate in property since the pandemic began has surrounded the future balance between time spent in the office vs homeworking. An informative indicator Avison Young has been tracking is exits at London Underground stations in the City of London (the UK capital’s largest financial district) and at the main London railway terminals. We view this as a good barometer for office workers commuting on weekdays in London. 

Back to work The good news for landlords is that when office workers are not prevented by government homeworking orders, they drift back to work in progressively higher numbers. In early February 2021, the London Underground stations in our sample were averaging 142,000 exits per day, which by November 2021 had reached 731,000 a day. The upwards trend corresponded with the gradual easing of Covid rules and demonstrates that both employers and workers view some degree of office attendance as essential.