Alongside the Private Rental Sector, there is another segment of British property which can reasonably be considered to fulfil dual residential and commercial roles; where ones living abode doubles as a workspace. And whilst home working is hardly new to Britain, its nature is a world away from its distant largely farming and crofting days. Now, the ONS suggests that higher-paid occupations and managerial positions account for the majority of those ‘Working from Home’ (WfH). This explains why pay for home and hybrid workers is significantly higher than conventionally ‘housed’ staff. This is a significant change to the past, when home working was largely characterised by men undertaking manual agriculture or artisan crafts, or women performing similar or low paid piece work.
According to the ONS, approximately 16% of those in work across Britain operate entirely from home, up from 12% pre-Covid, and from 11% in 2014. With 28% of workers ‘hydrid’, 56% of the workforce remain everyday commuters.
Continuing with official data, we know that around 1.4m of Britain’s 4.3m self-employed are home workers and are disproportionately found in less urban areas. According to the pre-pandemic link between self-employment and WfH, the former, in London, opted to work away from home more than the national norm, very possibly because of constraints on residential space and ease of travel to dedicated workspaces.
“WfH has been particularly noticeable in Wales and London, with almost one in five workers in both regions now performing their roles exclusively from home”
Since Covid, growth in professionals WfH has been particularly noticeable in Wales and London, with almost one in five workers in both regions now performing their roles exclusively from home. The number across Scotland, Yorkshire, and the North East, is by contrast just over one in ten.
