Sydney s office occupancy rates pause

Home Media Releases Sydney s office occupancy rates pause

The NSW division of the Property Council of Australia called for further commitments and investment in the Sydney CBD following just a one per cent rise from 52 to 53 per cent in office occupancy levels in the month of August.

The Property Council’s NSW Deputy Executive Director Lauren Conceicao said both ongoing CBD revitalisation funding as well as encouragement towards a return to the office for both private and public sector workers were now needed.

“It is essential the NSW Government continues to support the CBD to ensure the welfare of our economic engine room remains strong, vibrant and attracts people from across the world,” Ms Conceicao said.

“It is promising to see the upcoming ‘Flow and Glow’ festival soon take place as part of Sydney CBDs revitalisation package.

“But we must continue upward momentum as we head into summer and not further embed the work-from-home culture that is affecting innovative productivity, small business and workplace culture,” she said.

Ms Conceicao said the recent train disruptions had crippled passenger numbers on the train network by 8.5 per cent during August.

“Our small traders depend on that commuter foot traffic, so to ensure the CBD economy recovers we need reliable and regular transport networks and encouragement towards both private and public sectors for their workforces to work in the office,” she said.

Health concerns surrounding the latest wave also proved to be a major influence on the data, but fell from 30 to 15 per cent.

“People are the lifeblood of CBDs, and we don’t yet have enough of them back in our city centres to support our ecosystems of small businesses that call our CBDs home,” Ms Conceicao said.

“With spring approaching and the Omicron wave having peaked, the recovery momentum should be refocussed as a major priority for government and business alike.”

The survey was conducted in the field between 25 and 31 August 2022.

Media contact: Aidan Green | E [email protected]