The top London boroughs to set up a remote working office ranked

As working from home measures continue to grow in popularity across London amongst the coronavirus pandemic, it’s difficult to imagine what the capital’s busy office spaces will look like in the future.

For thousands of Londoners, the benefits of working remotely are clear but what about those who work more productively within an office environment?

Rank	London Borough	Min cost of office space (per sq ft.)	Min monthly cost of office space	Walking distance to closest tube station from borough centre (km)	Average commute time in each borough (mins)	Number of employees / employee density	Number of parks & green spaces	Number of bars around area
1	Richmond Upon Thames	£24.72	£103.00	0.32	27	108,600	135	500
2	Kensington and Chelsea	£18.00	£75.00	1.28	26	72,100	30	41
3	Islington	£11.76	£98.00	0.32	29	141,100	91	82
4	Brent	£19.68	£164.00	0.96	45	165,400	89	2,545
5	Westminster	£24.72	£103.00	0.32	28	127,100	80	49
6	Hounslow	£18.00	£75.00	1.93	42	135,900	88	479
7	Camden	£7.20	£60.00	0.8	30	135,900	12	123
8	Waltham Forest	£9.00	£75.00	0.96	40	144,800	25	817
9	Tower Hamlets	£24.72	£103.00	0.8	36	170,200	120	74
10	Bexley	£15.60	£65.00	2.09	59	122,400	111	155
11	Ealing	£18.00	£75.00	2.57	43	165,800	59	923
12	Croydon	£24.72	£103.00	0.64	38	198,500	121	34
13	Hackney	£23.52	£98.00	0.32	35	150,800	39	150
14	Barnet	£21.48	£179.00	1.28	42	203,600	159	161
15	Southwark	£24.72	£103.00	1.77	32	184,900	79	85
16	Sutton	£11.82	£197.00	6.59	31	107,000	32	182
17	Hammersmith	£20.40	£85.00	0.64	49	98,300	9	23
18	Enfield	£24.72	£103.00	0.08	37	151,000	24	124
19	Havering	£34.80	£145.00	2.09	38	126,700	41	315
20	Harrow	£24.72	£103.00	0.8	48	112,900	22	137
21	Lambeth	£19.20	£80.00	1.12	31	195,000	25	65
22	Hillingdon	£12.00	£100.00	3.37	51	148,200	53	347
23	Greenwich	£28.98	£157.00	4.6	35	153,600	56	37
24	Bromley	£24.72	£103.00	15.1	36	171,300	128	449
25	Redbridge	£23.16	£193.00	0.64	41	148,800	9	486
26	Merton	£17.88	£149.00	1.6	62	114,400	53	43
27	Wandsworth	£13.44	£112.00	1.6	41	198,100	32	66
28	Lewisham	£24.72	£103.00	2.89	44	174,300	42	25
29	Haringey	£40.34	£400.00	0.64	41	155,400	34	1,159
30	Barking and Dagenham	£33.92	£424.00	6.4	39	98,400	24	110
31	Newham	£59.76	£249.00	1.28	43	182,400	33	35
32	Kingston Upon Thames	£78.00	£325.00	8.52	40	96,200	31	45

 

Richmond Upon Thames revealed as the best London borough to set up a remote working office

With its high number of parks and pubs combined with reasonable office space costs, Richmond Upon Thames ranks as the best London borough to set up a remote working office. With prices starting at £24.72 per square ft for an office space, and with an average commute time for employees currently within the borough at just 27 minutes, the location boasts easy accessibility for both businesses and employees.

On top of this, the nearest tube station on average is just a short 320m walk away, and with over 135 parks and green spaces and 500 bars around the area, it’s easy to see why Richmond Upon Thames proves to be the perfect location in London to set up a remote working office.

Kingston Upon Thames revealed as the worst London borough to set up a remote working office

According to our research, Kingston Upon Thames ranks as the worst borough to set up a remote office due to its extortionately high monthly minimum office space costs (£325), distance to the nearest tube station . With only 31 parks and green spaces and 45 bars within the area, research also shows it to be one of the least sociable boroughs.

The top 15 London boroughs for cheapest remote working offices 

Rank	London Borough	Min Cost of office space (£ per sq ft.)	Min cost of office space  per month (£)
1	Camden	£7.20	£60.00
2	Waltham Forest	£9.00	£75.00
3	Islington	£11.76	£98.00
4	Sutton	£11.82	£197.00
5	Hillingdon	£12.00	£100.00
6	Wandsworth	£13.44	£112.00
7	Bexley	£15.60	£65.00
8	Merton	£17.88	£149.00
9	Kensington and Chelsea	£18.00	£75.00
10	Hounslow	£18.00	£75.00
11	Ealing	£18.00	£75.00
12	Lambeth	£19.20	£80.00
13	Brent	£19.68	£164.00
14	Hammersmith	£20.40	£85.00
15	Barnet	£21.48	£179.00

 

Camden ranks as the cheapest borough in London to rent an office space

With office spaces costing just £7.20 per square ft, Camden is ranked as the cheapest London borough to set up a remote working office. With the average commute time of residents living in the borough being just 30 minutes, it paves the way for a very accessible area to work in. Waltham Forest follows Camden, ranking second with office spaces starting from just £9.00 per square ft, and with a monthly office cost of £75, it becomes a very affordable space for workers in London.

The top 15 London boroughs for green space and social interaction

Rank	London borough	No. of parks and green space	No. of bars
1	Barnet	159	161
2	Richmond Upon Thames	135	500
3	Bromley	128	449
4	Croydon	121	34
5	Tower Hamlets	120	74
6	Bexley	111	155
7	Islington	91	82
8	Brent	89	2,545
9	Hounslow	88	479
10	Westminster	80	49
11	Southwark	79	85
12	Ealing	59	923
13	Greenwich	56	37
14	Hillingdon	53	347
15	Merton	53	43

 

Barnet ranks as the best location for office green space and social interaction 

If it’s open spaces and a good post-work social life that you’re prioritising, Barnet ranks highest with the best ratio of parks to bars at 159 parks and green spaces and 161 bars. With the highest number of employees out of all London boroughs, you can be sure it’ll be a busy and atmospheric area after working hours. Richmond Upon Thames follows Barnet in the number two position with 135 parks and green spaces and over 500 bars!

Sources and methodology

In order to calculate the best London boroughs to set up a remote working office we analysed 7 cost and lifestyle factors to produce an overall rank. For factors such as cost, number of employees, walking distance to the closest tube station and average commuting time, the lower the result the better rank. For the number of green parks and bars, the higher the result the better the rank. These ranks were then averaged out to create the final order of boroughs.