Reflections on BCO 2026: flexible offices and a shift to partnership led leasing

The British Council for Offices’ conference descended on Edinburgh this week. 

In keeping with other conferences we have attended this year, innovation in the workplace, sustainability and occupier experience were big themes – but what do those themes translate to in the market, and in commercial leasing practice generally? 

Better buildings, better performance and better occupier experience all point in one direction – the office is becoming more fluid.

We are seeing tenants (particularly experience-led retailers and occupiers with a global footprint) increasingly push back on the traditional “control-based” system (which is largely centred around what a tenant cannot do), and seeking a more “permissive” model, with less rigid use provisions, greater tolerance around sharing and occupation models, and more flexibility for how space is configured and used over time.

From a landlord’s perspective, those controls exist for good reasons – namely protecting value, maintaining control of the asset, and avoiding unintended use or occupation drift.

That said, our experience clearly shows an evolution in the leasing market to better serve modern occupier requirements – and if a landlord’s approach to these traditional controls fails to reflect how modern buildings are actually used, that starts to become a barrier to letting.

That gap is already creating friction in negotiations and is likely to become more pronounced over the next 12–24 months.

So where do landlords go from here? Ultimately a mindset change is required. We are already seeing some prime assets moving towards a more balanced, operational model, where control is exercised through how the building is run rather than just what the lease prohibits.

That means working with occupiers, not simply policing them – recognising that if the tenant succeeds in the building, the asset performs and value is enhanced.

Landlords can absolutely retain control over the fundamentals which go to value, but it becomes a more active, partnership-led form of control, built around clear parameters, good management and aligned incentives, rather than relying solely on tight drafting.

A difficult nut for institutional landlords to crack…

If you would like to discuss anything raised in this article, please get in touch with Paul Coyle or Nicky Clemence, or your usual Burness Paull contact.

Related News, Insights & Events