Serviced Offices

Serviced Offices

Renting primer, know the facts before renting an office!
Knowledge base and FAQ’s for serviced and unserviced office rental.

Serviced Office: An office space, usually occupied under a short term license agreement rather than a lease, whose license fee also includes a list of some related services; usual items include rates, insurance, electricity, gas, heating, furniture, phone system, broadband, cleaning, service charge, maintenance, security, water rates, waste charges, services admin, etc.

Unserviced Office: An office space occupied under a lease agreement.

Rates: City rates are paid to the local authority. Renters are usually responsible for rates which come to about €2-€4 per square foot of rented space, per year!

Insurance: Apart from a companies own business insurance, contents etc, a portion of the buildings insurance is usually refunded to the landlord so that an occupier has an interest in the upkeep of the building. An approximate figure is €1-€2 per square foot, per year; sometimes included in the service charge (see below).

Electricity & Gas: Dependent on usage of course but €2-€4 per square foot, per year is realistic.

Furniture & Equipment: Entirely dependent on the choice of furniture, PCs, scanners, photocopiers etc. A one off set-up cost of €5-€8 per square foot ,per year is realistic for furniture alone.

Phone System: Installation, line rental, handsets; dependent on the type of phone system used and number of users. The first 12 months will cost approximately €500 per telephone / fax line and €300 per handset assuming a fully programmable system.

Broadband: Installation, line rental, equipment; dependent on the type of connection required. The first 12 months will cost approximately €500 per connection assuming a standard business connection.

Cleaning & Service Charge: Office cleaning and for the upkeep of the common areas, stairs, toilets etc. Can cost anything from €2-€12 per square foot depending on the premises. An average of €3-€5 per square foot, per year is common.

Maintenance & Repairs: Not to be overlooked, this can vary a lot and whether a company is responsible for the interior of its office only or also for the exterior depends on the lease / license agreement. When taking a whole building usually a lease is fully repairing. Otherwise upkeep of the building and common areas are paid by the service charge. For interior maintenance only €1-€2 per square foot, per year is realistic.

Security: Evening inspections, maintenance of lock systems; sometimes included in service charge (see above).

The Extras that all add up: Water rates, bin charges, moving in / moving out, building snags, deposits on utility connections, flexibility of the lease term, knowledge of services. €1-€2 per square foot, per year is realistic.

Administration: The time and associated cost administering all service accounts, connection costs, service costs, accounting, human resources. €2-€3 per square foot, per year is realistic.

Access Hours: Unless a company holds an entire building there might be restrictions on access hours. All serviced offices managed by WMS are accessible 24 hours, 7 days per week.

Term: The critical decision! When a commercial lease runs over 5 years a tenant acquires automatic rights of renewal so renting an office in Ireland usually means either a fixed term from 1 up to 4 years 9 months or a term over 25 years and not much in between; making it an inflexible proposition. A serviced office license agreement provides a service and explicitly prohibits a tenancy, creating flexibility of term.

Deposit: Most long term leases require quarterly rental payments and a quarters’ deposit up front. Serviced offices typically require far less because there is less risk and more flexibility.

Location: Enjoying the place where you work, priceless

The serviced office solution bypasses all the above.

One Monthly Fee Covers All

Electricity
Furniture
Heating
Security
Waste charges
No Hidden Charges
Flexibility to Expand

Insurance
Maintenance
Concierge
Telephone System
Same Day Set-up
24hr. Access
Monthly Terms

City Rates
Rent
Cleaning
LAN
Water Rates
Voicemail
Fully Furnished

Enquiry

Enquiries: +353 (0)1 677 9699