Office cycle racks face the chop as workers opt for e-bikes
City developers have hailed the Mayor of London’s plans to water down the amount of bike rack space new offices need to provide, arguing that the shift to e-bikes makes these requirements redundant.
The London Property Alliance (LPA), which represents hundreds of developers in the City and central London, has welcomed proposals to cut down on “large swathes of unused cycle storage space in London’s office buildings”.
Indoor bike parking is a workplace perk prized by some commuters, but developers are pushing for these spaces to be replaced by other amenities, like gyms and spas.
The LPA claims that existing requirements for offices to provide space for workers to park their bikes has resulted in huge amounts of unused space.
More than three quarters (76 per cent) of existing cycle parking space across 21 buildings in the City, Canary Wharf and central London were unused during peak times, research by the LPA has found.
The surplus of space would have been even larger (as high as 84 per cent) if these buildings met the latest bike rack requirements, as set out in the 2021 London Plan.
This calculates bike parking requirements by office space, requiring buildings to provide one long-stay bike space for every 75 sqm.
Based on the usage observed during the LPA’s research, the industry body says offices need only provide one bike space for every 433 sqm.
Most of the bike space provided by central London offices is in basements, but the LPA has warned these are among the most expensive and carbon-intensive parts of these buildings to develop.
Bike racks ‘are wasted space’
Simon Swietochowski, vice chair of the City Property Association, said: “A well-intentioned policy designed to support sustainable travel before the dawn of hire-bikes and dockless e-bikes has inadvertently led to large swathes of unused cycle storage space in London’s office buildings.”
Stuart Lipton, a London-based property developer, told the Financial Times this space can be better used. “You can have a spa, education, cooking experience, games and other things” for work-life balance,” he said.
Developers have pointed towards the surge in popularity of e-bike providers like Lime and Forest as a major reason that workers are no longer bringing their own bikes to the office.
Lime, the UK’s largest e-bike operator, said its number of trips into the Square Mile rose nearly 50 per cent last year. The company’s chief executive, Wayne Ting, has previously called for policymakers and developers to provide more central-London bike parking space.
Responding to criticisms that the firm’s hire cycles are turning London’s streets into an “obstacle course,” Ting said: “We can always do a better job to ensure our bikes don’t block the streets – but we don’t have enough spaces in the city to park our bikes on the street.”
The existing London Plan asks offices to provide bike space based on the assumption that 19 per cent of employees cycle to work.
A new draft London Plan, drawn up by mayor Sadiq Khan, puts this figure at 10 per cent. This remains below the 6.5 per cent observed by the LPA, but developers say this is a step in the right direction.
Charles Begley, chief executive of the LPA, said: “Moving towards staff-based requirements and allowing more flexible provision should reduce cost and wasted space without weakening facilities for cyclists.
“We welcome the direction of travel. Getting this right can support cycling while helping unlock the modern workspace London needs for jobs and growth.”