Affordability is near the top of the list of factors to consider when searching for the perfect office or workspace for your business, but it’s a more important consideration for some businesses than for others.

If you’re in the market for the most affordable workspace option that still meets your needs, this blog post is for you. We’ll talk through the options, discussing the pros and cons relative to their general cost, so you can make an educated decision about which type of workspace to choose.

Costs versus benefits for different workspace types

Private leased office

Traditional private leased offices fell slightly out of favour over the last decade as alternatives, like flexible offices and coworking spaces, rose in popularity. While this decline is partly a direct result of the increased demand for more flexible solutions, it’s also in part a reflection of the costs associated with the traditional lease model.

A private office lease typically involves a long-term commitment, often 5-10 years in length, for a self-contained office with exclusive facilities. And since the space is used entirely by one occupying business, there’s no flexibility in terms of usage. You pay for the entire space whether you use it all or not.

That means private leased offices don’t offer great value for money to any business that don’t need the entire office space every day of the week. The price assumes full occupancy, so this model is not ideal for companies that use hybrid working patterns, for instance. 

It’s also worth noting that private leased offices don’t tend to offer additional benefits, like cleaning or maintenance services. And they also don’t typically come inclusive of other standard office costs, like internet or utilities. That means the total cost of a private leased office is greater than the lease expense alone.

Flexible serviced office

Flexible serviced offices offer a slightly more flexible arrangement than private leased offices, while still providing a private, mostly self-contained space to work in. They’re available in all sorts of sizes and most pricing models are on a per-desk basis, which means you can choose exactly the size that suits your business and only pay for what you need.

What’s more, the flexible leases associated with serviced offices offer lots of other financial benefits. Most obviously, they’re not as restrictive as long-term private leases, which means you’re not tied into an expensive contract for a period of up to 10 years and can maintain financial agility. 

Separately, serviced office providers generally allow occupants to scale their office size up or down flexibly, as and when their requirements change. This is particularly good for businesses with their sights set on growth – meaning they can comfortably secure a smaller, cheaper office space at the outset with the knowledge they can add more desks when needed.

And, finally, serviced offices come inclusive of a wide variety of additional services and costs including cleaning, maintenance, management, internet, utilities, business rates, and more. The price you’re quoted for a serviced office is the total price you’ll pay.

Coworking space

Coworking spaces, a model which can be subdivided into dedicated desks and hot desks, are the final main type of workspace up for consideration. They offer the most flexible arrangement for businesses seeking a workspace, providing complete control over costs with a per desk pricing model available on various timeframes.

Businesses can, for example, use coworking day passes to get access to 10 hot desks in a coworking space one day, 5 the next, and 20 the day after, depending on how many staff are required in the workspace. Alternatively, they could reserve 10 dedicated desks in a workspace for a month and allocate them flexibly to different team members on a daily basis.

However, the downside with a coworking arrangement is that, everything else being equal, you’ll generally end up paying a similar or greater amount per desk per month than you would with a flexible serviced office, while also sacrificing the benefits of having your own private space. 

This drawback is fine for businesses who have very low workspace requirements, as coworking will still likely work out to be cheaper overall than an office. But it does mean that flexible serviced offices are generally the better option for businesses that know their minimum workspace requirements.

Choosing the right workspace option

Which workspace option is best for your business depends heavily on how many employees you have and how many days a week you want to be in a workspace. However, as a general rule of thumb, if you use a remote-first working policy, coworking will have the edge. If you use a hybrid or full-time office policy, a flexible serviced office should provide the best value.

There are, of course, plenty of other factors that affect the cost of a workspace, including the size of the space, where it’s located, and what amenities are included. You can also often find great deals on all sorts of office spaces – large serviced offices at our Ealing workspace are particularly affordable at the moment for example.

If you’re looking for an affordable workspace that complements your business and its working policy, get in touchwith us today to hear more about the serviced offices and coworking spaces we have available across London and beyond.

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