What WeWork and their peers offer is the ability to occupy space for a short period, anything from a month upwards, and to adjust the amount of space you need on a more regular basis than a more traditional commercial property lease. This means that not only do businesses not end up having excess space, but also that they can expand much more quickly and easily than they might have been able to in the past. As the concept of WaaS has developed, and competition amongst providers has intensified, we have seen the type of offer and services that are on offer broaden. WeWork is experimenting not only with co-living, but also the provision of educational facilities on site. Convene’s offer is based much more around education and knowledge-sharing, with conference and seminar facilities at the heart of their offer. We have also seen other WaaS operators edge towards delivering more technical space, whether they be for 3d printing or for laboratories. The advantage for the occupiers or customers of these facilities are not just about the flexibility of lease, but also about community and shared services. Whether the services are included as part of the membership fee, or paid for on a draw-down basis they mean that smaller businesses now have access to the facilities that historically you might only have had if you worked for a major bank or technology company. These services can include IT support, food & beverage, conference facilities, healthcare & insurance, access to expensive hardware, and education. While the phrase ‘sharing economy’ is a little disingenuous, the trend that it describes is gathering pace globally and we expect that the majority of commercial property spaces will be occupied this way in the future. Not only does the concept of leasing your workspace only when you need it fit the way that people and companies increasingly want to work, it also will create new income streams for owners of under-utilised real-estate. The first and most obvious implication of these trends for universities is that short term real-estate requirements need now not involve a long term lease. If you need some office, storage or seminar space for a limited period then maybe there will be a provider in your city who will rent it to you for that period fully-serviced. However, we believe that the biggest opportunity for universities around the rise of WaaS is monetising under-utilised space. This sector has evolved to satisfy the corporate real estate manager who looks out across their unused desks for which they are paying rent and shakes their head. The same opportunity must be true for the Director of Estates who looks at their student accommodation, lecture and seminar rooms, and laboratories both in term and vacation time.
The popularity of co - working and flexible office space has led to the rise of workspace as a service . Increasingly businesses are able to tap into a range of services from IT support and education to healthcare and finance , while some operators delivering more technical space also provide access to expensive hardware and equipment . This also creates a number of opportunities and businesses are in a good position to benefit according to a report by Savills .