If you’re a busy executive or business owner, your office lease expiry can creep up on you. But it’s important to start planning early.
When it comes to planning for an office lease expiry, our best advice is start early! Careful time management can be the difference between a successful leasing outcome and an inconvenient and costly mess.
Lease renewal time is an opportunity to review your current position, research the market, and use that information to negotiate a better lease. It’s important to allow enough time to decide what you’re going to do.
If you plan to stay, give yourself enough time to research current market rents and incentives, and negotiate a lease you can live with.
If you decide to relocate, you need enough time to find the perfect space and coordinate everything necessary for relocation, including fit-out and make good.
How much time do you need?
The larger your office, the earlier you should start planning. For offices 500–1,000 sqm you should start planning 6 to 12 months before your lease expires. If your office is larger, you will need more time. The graphic above shows the minimum recommended planning timeframes.
Time is your friend
When it comes to negotiating an office lease, time is your friend. That’s because researching available space, conducting inspections and negotiating lease terms with landlords usually takes longer than expected.
You must give yourself enough time for:
- space evaluation and writing a property brief
- thorough market search
- inspections and shortlisting properties
- getting offers from landlords and financial analysis
- negotiations
- finalising the heads of agreement
- any make good of your current office
- fit-out of your new office.
How TRS can help
If you’re not familiar with the commercial property market and lease negotiations – or don’t have the time to properly manage a lease re-negotiation – you should consider having TRS represent you.
As Australia’s leading independent tenant representatives, we will maximise your savings, negotiate the best lease terms and protect your interests. Contact us today
