5 More Questions to Ask Before You Choose Your Office Space

If you are considering signing a lease agreement to rent a new office space for your business, it pays to consider these five questions while you’re looking for the right place for your employees and your clients.

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Could I Share an Office?

It could be a cost-saver to share office space with another company. It may be common areas such as kitchens and bathrooms that you agree to share, and you should make a formal agreement with the co-tenant. This often works best if you’re sharing with a complementary business, and there are often many other businesses looking to share a lease – for instance, on offices to let Basingstoke.

Are There Hidden Costs?

When you move into a new office, you need to consider all costs for rent, utilities, updating the space, moving in your furniture, paperwork and IT equipment and ongoing maintenance as well as setting money aside to clean and restore your previous premises to a condition stated in your previous lease agreement.

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Is the Office Accessible?

Before choosing a building, ensure it is accessible and does not put anyone with a disability at a disadvantage. Considerations such as making doors to office suites wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs or doors that require a low force to open or carpet in public areas with a low pile can all be incorporated into the design.

For information on adjustments that you can make to your workplace, visit the Gov.uk website.

What If I Sell My Company?

If you expect to sell your company, make sure the lease agreement is clear about owner responsibility. Some leases leave the original company and its owners with liability for future tenants, so if they don’t pay you could be left covering the bill for unpaid rent. Visit http://www.matrix-house.co.uk/basingstoke.html for offices to rent in Basingstoke.

How Secure Is the Rental Rate?

You don’t want to agree a lease only to find that when you come to renew it the cost of rent increases dramatically or the landlord is ready to lease the office to someone else.

Incorporate an option to renew into the initial lease, and even though rental rates are usually negotiated at the time of renewal, you could also incorporate an agreement that prices should not rise more than five per cent.