What's involved in renting office space (ie. costs etc)

[kellycomputerservices]

Hi,

I'm sorry if this sounds dumb, but I'm not too sure what costs are involved when renting office space. I've never had an office before - always worked from home. :|

I'm self employed, I've seen an office to rent in a purpose built multi-tenanted office block. I know I have to pay rent & service charges to the landlord, but what else am I accountable for? Do I pay business rates to the council (like council tax) etc? Water, Electricity (I guess I have to find out from the ladlord if these are covered by his charges). Any idea ball park what these cost? And anything I'm not thinking of?!?

Thanks.

Keith.

 

[popunder]

Most serviced offices have a single all-inclusive monthly fee so you certainly shouldn't pay separately for water, heating, rates etc. Not sure what cost would be a it varies between cities and depends on the standard of the office and what's offered - broadband, access to printers, 24 hour reception, meeting room hire etc.

Why not just ring the office agency and ask?!

 

[Alison Tepal]

As popunder said I would just call an office space agency & ask them.

i used Complete Office Search to find our office. they offer a free serviced office search service.

good luck

Alison

 

[jelly3]

Hi,

I'm sorry if this sounds dumb, but I'm not too sure what costs are involved when renting office space. I've never had an office before - always worked from home. :|

I'm self employed, I've seen an office to rent in a purpose built multi-tenanted office block. I know I have to pay rent & service charges to the landlord, but what else am I accountable for? Do I pay business rates to the council (like council tax) etc? Water, Electricity (I guess I have to find out from the ladlord if these are covered by his charges). Any idea ball park what these cost? And anything I'm not thinking of?!?

Thanks.

Keith.

There is no such thing as a ball park figure when renting office space.
I can think of 2 buildings in Manchester, which share the same bricks but are owned by 2 different companies.
One is offering a 100sft office with rent/rates/service charge/utilities included at £23 per week.
The one next door is £80 for the same size space.
About half a mile down the road, there is a business park, where a 200sft space is £18 per week.(everything included),
Behind this park is another offering 200sft at £200 per week.

As has already been pointed out phoning around the various offices will give you your answer.
First decide on the space you require, whether you want furnished or unfurnished, telephone and broadband/lifts/mail collection/delivery signage etc then ask them what they have in that size and what services are available.

 

[david rushton]

The main thing to watch out for is the business rates that need to be paid to the local authority. These vary between areas.

If rates are not included in the building, it is definately worth seeing if you can apply for small business rates relief where you can claim back a percentage of the rates you pay. Around Staffordshire (where I am based) you can claim back upto 50% of your rates back.

 

[JohnNash]

Keith,

As the others have touched on, it depends on which route you go down. The terminology is occasionally different but this is what we use:

- Serviced is all inclusive so you pay one licence fee each month that provides you with a furnished office with shared reception and covers everything (except outgoing telephone calls, meeting room hire, photocopying or other variables like that). It is on a licence agreement rather than a lease, which is basically simpler and permits you to use the office rather than take ownership of it.

- Managed is a bit of a hybrid. Usually unfurnished but you pay a fixed fee that covers rent, business rates, buildings insurance, and utilities. You would then pay for your own furniture, telephones, and internet connections. Ordinarily this would be on a licence.

- Conventional is where everything is seperated out. You pay the landlord his rent, a service charge (usually maintenance of common areas / lifts etc), and contribution towards buildings insurance. Business rates go to the council. You'd have an unfurnished office and you would then arrange for your own contract with utilities companies (assuming the offices are separately metered), telephones, and internet connections. Here you are going to be signing a lease, which is a legal document and you are advised to seek legal advice with this.


As it stands in the market at the moment there aren't any really set boundaries / definitions so it is a case of speaking to each individual place or the agent and asking what exactly the figure includes. Quite a few conventional landlords are now offering all inclusive rates (rent, business rates, utilities, service charge, buildings insurance) these days on 12 month contracts to try and compete with the serviced model.

Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions, more than happy to talk through it without selling you anything, number is 0161 474 0011.

John

 

[ally_1988]

One thing is for sure, make sure you negotiate hard! Go in at a stupid price, because most of them have the cheek to start off ridiculously high.

If they have a lot of unoccupied space then they will want to get you in their

 

[JoyDivision]

There is no such thing as a ball park figure when renting office space.
I can think of 2 buildings in Manchester, which share the same bricks but are owned by 2 different companies.
One is offering a 100sft office with rent/rates/service charge/utilities included at £23 per week.
The one next door is £80 for the same size space.
About half a mile down the road, there is a business park, where a 200sft space is £18 per week.(everything included),
Behind this park is another offering 200sft at £200 per week.

As has already been pointed out phoning around the various offices will give you your answer.
First decide on the space you require, whether you want furnished or unfurnished, telephone and broadband/lifts/mail collection/delivery signage etc then ask them what they have in that size and what services are available.

Would you mind PM'ing me the locatons of these Manchester offices? I am on the look out myself. Most will be too far, I nearly look out a unit in Ardwick but decided it was too far to be practicle.

 

[jelly3]

Would you mind PM'ing me the locatons of these Manchester offices? I am on the look out myself. Most will be too far, I nearly look out a unit in Ardwick but decided it was too far to be practicle.

I have sent you a PM but if you let me know whereabouts in Manchester you are looking I have a much, much wider list of properties throughout Manchester.

Oh and if your looking for managed or lone gun spaces.

 

[jelly3]

NB: I do not own any of these properties btw.

Why am I even awake?