For decades, the office was regarded as the unquestioned centre of business life. Employees commuted daily, managers supervised in person, clients arrived for meetings, and commercial property demand was built around the assumption that productivity was best achieved under one roof.

That assumption is now being challenged again — not only by technology or changing employee expectations, but by something far more immediate and practical: the rising cost of simply getting to work.

In South Africa, petrol, diesel, transport fares, electricity, food, rent and healthcare costs continue to place mounting pressure on household budgets. The Competition Commission’s work on the cost of living has repeatedly highlighted how transport and fuel expenses are eroding affordability for consumers, while wage growth has struggled to keep pace with inflation in recent years.

For employees, the daily commute is no longer just an inconvenience. It has become a meaningful financial burden.

This is where the working-from-home debate shifts from lifestyle preference to economic reality. When salaries remain relatively static but transport costs continue rising, employees naturally begin questioning the value of travelling to the office every day. A business owner may view office space as an operational necessity, but employees increasingly see every commute as money leaving their pockets before the workday has even started.

Businesses are rethinking productivity, cost and retention

Rising fuel and transport costs are forcing businesses to reassess the relationship between office attendance and business performance. The conversation is no longer simply: “Do we want staff back in the office?” It is increasingly becoming: “What does it cost our employees to be here, and does that cost deliver measurable value?”

For some businesses, office-based work will remain essential. Certain roles depend on face-to-face collaboration, specialised equipment, direct supervision, customer interaction or secure systems. But for many administrative, financial, marketing, professional services and support functions, the justification for a five-day commute is becoming weaker.

Businesses that ignore this pressure risk damaging morale, retention, and recruitment. If employees are expected to absorb ever-higher commuting costs while their earnings remain unchanged, the office can begin to feel less like a collaborative environment and more like an unpaid expense.

In this context, hybrid work policies are increasingly evolving from employee perks into practical business tools, helping companies retain talent, support productivity, and ease financial strain on staff.

What this means for commercial property

The commercial property sector should not view remote or hybrid work as a simple threat. Rather, it represents a fundamental shift in what occupiers now value.

South Africa’s office market has shown signs of recovery, although the recovery remains uneven. SAPOA’s Q2 2025 Office Vacancy Survey showed the national office vacancy rate improving to 13.3%, its lowest level since late 2020, with prime and A-grade offices continuing to outperform lower-grade stock. Importantly, occupiers are increasingly favouring higher-quality spaces that support hybrid work models.

This suggests that demand for office space is not disappearing — it is becoming more selective. Businesses may require less space overall, but they increasingly want better space, and they want offices that justify the commute.

As a result, location, accessibility, parking availability, energy reliability, security, amenities and flexibility are becoming more important than ever. Many companies may choose to downsize from large, outdated offices into smaller, more efficient and better-located premises.

In this environment, landlords and brokers can no longer sell square metres alone. They must sell convenience, flexibility, efficiency and employee value.

Buildings situated close to residential nodes, transport routes and lifestyle amenities may become increasingly attractive because they reduce the personal and financial cost of attendance. Likewise, offices designed around flexibility — including shared workspaces, hot-desking and collaboration-focused layouts — are likely to prove more resilient than traditional fixed-desk environments.

This trend is already becoming visible across the market, with landlords increasingly exploring co-working concepts and hybrid-friendly office models as ways to reposition underutilised space.

The office must now justify attendance

Perhaps the strongest conclusion emerging from this shift is this: the office is no longer automatically entitled to attendance. It must earn it.

If employees are spending hundreds or even thousands of rand each month on fuel, taxis, trains or ride-hailing services, the office experience must offer clear and tangible value in return. That value may come in the form of mentorship, collaboration, company culture, training, client engagement, better technology, or team-based problem-solving.

However, if the working day consists largely of sitting at a desk, attending online meetings and answering emails, employees will increasingly ask why the same work could not be performed from home.

This has significant implications for commercial property. The most successful office environments of the future are likely to be those designed around purposeful attendance. Offices may increasingly become destinations for strategy sessions, collaboration, onboarding, client-facing work and team engagement, rather than spaces employees attend automatically every day.

For landlords, this creates both risk and opportunity. Older offices in weaker nodes may struggle if they cannot offer convenience or cost savings. Conversely, well-positioned, well-managed offices could become even more valuable because they provide compelling reasons for employees and businesses to gather.

Rising fuel costs also impacting industrial property

The impact of rising fuel and oil costs extends far beyond office workers. It also directly affects the movement of goods, bringing industrial property into the same cost-efficiency conversation.

For industrial tenants, fuel costs influence almost every part of the supply chain — from supplier deliveries and courier routes to fleet operations, staff transport, port access and last-mile logistics. As diesel and petrol prices rise, warehouse location becomes more than a property decision, it becomes a transport-cost strategy.

This makes industrial location increasingly critical. Warehouses situated near major highways, ports, distribution corridors and customer bases can significantly reduce unnecessary travel distances and operating costs. In many cases, a slightly higher rental in a superior logistics location may prove more cost-effective than a cheaper warehouse that generates higher monthly fuel, toll and delivery expenses.

In South Africa, the N3 corridor between Johannesburg and Durban remains one of the country’s most important freight routes. Recent developments around solar-powered heavy-duty truck charging infrastructure along this corridor further highlight how logistics networks are evolving, with energy resilience and alternative transport technologies becoming increasingly important in long-term freight planning.

This creates an important marketing opportunity for industrial property owners and brokers. Industrial properties should no longer be marketed solely according to size, yard space, height and power supply. They should also be positioned according to logistics efficiency.

Key questions now include:

  • How close is the property to major transport routes? 
  • Can it reduce delivery times and fuel consumption? 
  • Does it support efficient fleet movement? 
  • Is it suitable for regional distribution, cross-docking or last-mile logistics? 
  • Can the location help occupiers better manage fuel-cost exposure? 

In a high-cost operating environment, the strongest industrial properties are no longer simply storage facilities — they are cost-control assets.

A new property conversation

Rising fuel and transport costs are forcing a more honest conversation between employers, employees, landlords and property professionals.

Employees are under pressure from rising living costs and stagnant wage growth. Businesses are under pressure to balance productivity, culture and operating costs. Landlords are under pressure to keep buildings relevant and competitive.

The result is not necessarily the end of the office. Rather, it is the end of unquestioned office attendance.

For commercial property, the future increasingly belongs to spaces that are flexible, accessible and genuinely worth travelling to. For industrial property, long-term demand is likely to favour locations that reduce supply-chain friction and improve operational efficiency.

In both sectors, property is no longer just about premises. It is increasingly about affordability, efficiency and strategic value.

As fuel costs continue shaping household and business decisions, the property industry may need to rethink its core message: the right property should not add pressure — it should help relieve it.