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The remote working effect
How has the change in working patterns affected house prices and demand?
GROWTH, REGENERATION & DEVELOPMENT
Jamie Don
Policy and Research Officer, Campbell Tickell
Jamie Don
Policy and Research Officer, Campbell Tickell
Issue 84 | June 2026
Working patterns have changed drastically since covid. For many organisations, the pandemic brought the realisation that productivity did not diminish – and was often improved – when workers were not required to be in the office full-time. As such, hybrid or fully remote working has become common policy.
- 13% of UK workers are fully remote and 27% are hybrid workers.
- 74% of UK organisations have hybrid working in place.
- The UK has the second-highest rate of hybrid-working globally, after Canada.
This has driven two key housing market effects:
- People want more housing space – people now spend more time in their homes and require extra space for home offices.
- People are more flexible about where they live – as workers reduce the number of days they go into the office, their tolerance for longer commutes increases.
of UK workers are fully remote
of UK workers are hybrid workers
of UK organisations have hybrid-working in place
What the evidence suggests
An important study from the US, which experienced similar pandemic remote working patterns to the UK, found that house prices increased 18.9% from 2019 to 2023 and that remote working was responsible for at least 50% of this. These findings are also corroborated by many other studies.
More specifically, the research found that a 1% increase in remote working corresponds with a 0.92% increase in house prices. As could be expected, residential rents simultaneously increased, mostly due to people wanting larger homes, pushing overall demand up.
Other studies have found spatial price impacts of remote working. One study finds that in London from 2019 to 2022, house prices and rents rose more the further from the city centre the property was, with many property prices in central London falling during the pandemic.
This indicates remote working patterns have resulted in a reduction in the ‘commuting penalty’ that traditionally brings suburban house prices down. Additionally, in the US, high-productivity cities experienced a relative fall in prices, as workers were able to move to cheaper areas while keeping their jobs, showing how price differences have flattened across cities as well as within cities.
Temporary impact
Despite the immediate effects of remote working on the housing market, some suggest the impacts are only temporary.
The initial rise in remote working occurred when fresh housing supply was static, so prices surged, however as the market begins to correct for changing demand patterns, researchers suggest the long-term effect on prices will only be around 40% of the short-term effect (2020-2022).
Nevertheless, the effects are likely to persist unless remote working rates fall to pre-pandemic levels.
Is this progess?
At the beginning of the pandemic, many welcomed remote working as an opportunity for ‘levelling up’, allowing wealth to spread out of the south-east of England as employment markets became less geographically constrained. While there is some evidence of this occurring, the predominant effects have been intracity, rather than intercity, and have also resulted in a net house price increase.
This situation may in fact reinforce existing inequalities, as those most likely to be able to work from home are those in technology and service sectors which typically have higher incomes. In London, research finds remote working could reduce non-remote workers' homeownership rate by 4% as they are priced out of the market. Meanwhile, those who would most benefit from relocating to cheaper areas in the suburbs are often those who are least able to do this as they are physically tied to specific jobs.
So, while it should not be discounted that remote working has increased the freedom of many to live in locations they prefer, the associated economic consequences often appear to undermine these gains.
“In London, research finds remote working could reduce non-remote workers' homeownership rate by 4% as they are priced out of the market.”
