Growing sectors and nationalities

The types of companies relocating employees to the UK continues to evolve – and now more than ever, we are supporting tenants coming here for work purposes from all kinds of industries. While firms across oil and gas, telecommunications, finance and consumer goods have been relocating staff to the UK for many years, we have seen uplifts in those employed in health and fitness as well as the sports and entertainment fields too. Additionally, demand is coming from all over the world – from North America to the Middle East – and in 2025, our Japanese desk had its busiest ever year with incoming tenants. In the final few months of last year, we saw good appetite from global mobility teams, relocation agents and individuals themselves and we anticipate the breadth of industries and point of origin to be a common feature of the market in the year ahead.

Location, location, location

During the pandemic, local lifestyle seemed to be a major factor in terms of where people wanted to base themselves – but proximity to the workplace has returned as the primary driver in tenants’ search criteria, with schooling also an important consideration. Most want to be within a reasonably short commute to their office, and while the majority are looking to be within commuting distance of London, we have also helped people from Manchester to Winchester over the last 12 months. We expect city living to be just as important to tenants in 2026, whether that’s in the UK capital or further afield, while education will remain a priority for those with families. Places such as Richmond and Ealing are popular for the German and Japanese schools respectively, St John’s Wood and Elmbridge in Surrey for the American schools, and central, south and west London for the French system.

Shifting seasonality

Seasonal patterns remain particularly prevalent in the family market, with summer a popular time to move so that children are settled ahead of a new school term. However, while some movers will be planning months ahead, others will have much shorter timeframes and we have worked on enquiries this year for tenants seeking property within a matter of days. What this suggests is that the market could be becoming less defined by seasonality as we move forward.

Rising budgets

Most tenants tend to be coming to the UK for around three years – and while that has remained fairly consistent, their budgets have lifted year on year. We saw budgets rise by around 10% in 2025 which reflects the uplift in prime rental values in London and the commuting zone.

The opportunity to live and work somewhere new is an exciting prospect and often a way for employers to attract talent. As the year unfolds, many will be about to embark on a new chapter in their professional and personal lives as a relocation beckons.

Further information

Contact Matthew Salvidge