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This paper reports the results from the first stage of a research project that examines changes in urban office occupiers’ space requirements and their impact on the structure of urban office markets. The specific objectives of the project are to compare occupiers’ trade‐offs and preferences between submarkets in the Edinburgh market and to look at the way in which agents influence the process by which occupiers are matched to space in particular submarkets. The results discussed are based on two surveys: first we analyse a detailed survey of office occupiers in two office submarkets in Edinburgh; and second, office agents are surveyed. This allows us to compare their perception of occupiers’ space requirements with those expressed by respondent occupiers. The results suggest that agents’ knowledge of occupier preferences vary across submarkets and that, in particular, they are less well informed about occupiers’ preferences in non‐traditional submarkets.

Corporate occupiers are among the important interest groups in the real estate business. The whole value network in the real estate sector, consisting of, e.g. developers, investors, and service providers depend on the occupier organizations and meeting their needs and preferences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the methods applied by the parties in the real estate sector in identifying and evaluating office occupiers' needs and preferences regarding the physical, virtual, social as well as financial elements of the workplace.

Based on theme interviews with selected Finnish organizations, the applied methods for evaluating office occupiers' needs and preferences are analyzed and presented. The applicability of the methods is evaluated by a set of criteria based on a literature review and the interviewees' responses.

The paper presents an efficient and relevant evaluation of the applied methods in matrix form. Additionally, recommendations for the development of the methods are suggested.

Analyzing the occupiers' needs and preferences related to physical, virtual, social, and financial elements of offices requires applicable methods. The methods should enable the parties in the real estate sector to analyze the direction of the real estate markets as regards the different elements.

The paper provides a classification and analysis of the methods applied to identify office occupier organizations' needs and preferences. Suggestions for further development of the methods are presented enabling a comprehensive analysis of needs and preferences.

The PRIME contract is revolutionising the property industry. It has enabled the UK Government’s Department of Social Security to outsource not just its facilities management and property management but also its entire property portfolio and the risks associated with it. PRIME will provide the Department with 22 per cent cost savings over the life of the contract, give it the flexibility to downsize its portfolio to 60 per cent of its original size and replace hundreds of separate service provision contracts with one service provider, Trillium. Trillium is one of the new types of property service providers who are taking advantage of the historical failure of traditional property owners to give occupiers what they want in terms of service and flexibility. The implications for corporate real estate are enormous ‐ who better to deal with occupier problems like surplus space, flexibility, property market risk and service quality than the supply side of the industry. The potential benefits for those property providers on the supply side who are positioned to take advantage are substantial ‐ instead of just rental income from one property for one occupier, there is the opportunity to capture all occupancy cost revenue for an entire portfolio. The occupier can potentially save costs, increase flexibility, reduce risk and more closely align its corporate real estate with its business strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the availability of sustainable buildings may affect the decisions made by office occupiers in their building selection process.

The structure of the paper includes a review of both the sustainability literature and traditional location literature which serves to inform the study. A qualitative study comprising 13 in‐depth one‐to‐one interviews with decision makers of a variety of organisations who have chosen to locate in a “sustainable” building within the central business district in Auckland, New Zealand is undertaken.

The research suggests that selecting a building that is perceived to be sustainable by the market may not be the ultimate driving factor in the office location decision and that more emphasis is placed on micro location factors, attractiveness to staff, marketing and flexibility. The importance of each of these factors tends to be influenced by the size and type of organisation as well as the availability of suitable buildings in the market. The research reinforces the finding that organisations generally seek accommodation that can “add value” to their specific business.

The study provides a deeper understanding on the impact of the emergence of sustainable buildings in the decision‐making process of office tenants and how this may be affected by the size and type of the occupier organisation. These findings will be of practical application to property professionals involved in the development, sale and valuing of sustainable buildings.

This paper provides in‐depth insights into business location decisions from the perspective of a variety of tenants choosing to locate within a CBD.

Considers the interrelationships between manufacturing firms and their accommodation in the rented sector of the industrial property market. Discusses the implications for the industry of the growth of the rented sector, and outlines three analytical approaches to an understanding of firm‐property interrelationships: industry‐based analysis, behavioural analysis, and life‐cycle theory. Concludes that the increasing importance of rented industrial property has highlighted the need for a better understanding of the firm‐property interrelationship, three approaches to which have been outlined above.

Discusses the growth of business parks in the UK, their nature and ingredients for success. Points out some advantages, compared with town centre locations. Concludes that the concept is relatively new.

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the way that corporate real estate (CRE) has developed in the UK since the early 1990s.

Review of how various professional bodies, occupiers and landlords have responded to the changing business and workplace environment.

CRE managers and the professional bodies that represent them are at a crossroads. Whilst the business world has evolved since 1990, the CRE sector has not and faces the prospect becoming purely a technical rather than a strategic subject.

A review of what has happened and not new research.

The establishment of design criteria is an important activity in the initial phase of housing development. A lack of adequate information regarding design criteria will result in poor satisfaction of homebuyers, pre-occupancy obsolescence, high maintenance costs, property overhang and the abandonment of houses. In Malaysia, many of these consequences are prevalent. However, while information on homeowners’ requirements is inconclusive, paper aims to investigate the criteria upon which design teams/developers base their decisions in the design of affordable housing.

The present research conducted a cross-sectional survey questionnaire comprising 25 design criteria administered to 200 stakeholders in the housing industry. The design criteria were determined through a weighted mean. The associations between the criteria were analysed through a principal component analysis.

The results found that safety and security of home occupants and property, maintenance costs, noise and nuisance minimisation, extent of future modifications and waste disposal were the five major design criteria. Factor analysis narrowed down the 25 criteria to six factors, which explained 77 per cent of the total variance. The six underlying factors named of significance were operating costs, sustainability, comfort, neighbourhood, transportation and spatial. The findings also indicated that the design teams/developers paid little attention to a few critical design criteria.

Future studies should involve a large sample size and increase the design criteria.

The study is important for improving homebuyers’ satisfactions because it provides information design team and developers decision-making factors.

This study is the first to address design criteria of affordable housing in Malaysia and elsewhere. This research provides fresh information on design management of affordable housing. The findings will be useful to policymakers, urban planners, place managers, design consultants and developers.

This paper has three principal aims: to briefly consider the term “depreciation” in the context of property values; to critically review the term “obsolescence” and two of its distinct forms; and to highlight the practical difficulties in pricing obsolescence using inflexible methodologies in a market place that is subject to evolving criteria.

The paper critically reviews existing literature and advice from international professional bodies.

The general conclusions are that despite the need to be more explicit in valuations, current methods are unable to address such detail. The guidance and advice offered by professional bodies need to be thoroughly revised. It is hoped that the progress being made in methodology will be incorporated in directed guidance to practitioners.

The paper offers an applied examination of an issue that has an impact on many aspects of contemporary real estate consultancy services.

The work environment has been identified to influence employee satisfaction and work performance. In order to develop and provide work environments that meet the preferences of as many employees as possible, more information about user preferences and possible preference differences between different kinds of users is required. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding concerning office users' work environment preferences. The aim is to investigate whether there are differences in the preferences of office users based on their age, gender, their mobility, and whether they work individually or with others.

Office users' work environment preferences are studied through a survey directed to office employees. Statistical analysis is used in order to identify work environment preference differences between respondents of different age, gender, and the way they work.

The results indicate that there are differences between office users' work environment preferences concerning some characteristics of the work environment. The results show that the preferences vary both based on demographic issues such as age and gender as well as based on how they work.

The research is limited to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland, so the cultural context has to be taken into account when generalising the results.

The paper provides several stakeholders, such as user organisations, designers, consultants, and investors, valuable information on what kind of work environments office users prefer.