With a wealth of websites facilitating and supporting renting out your spare office space, choosing to share your office simply makes sense for many business owners. For most, all that you need when renting out spare desk space in your office is a basic licence; a simple agreement about using the space and minimum tenant protections. As a company, you are in control. Whether you choose to rent out multiple desks to multiple businesses or a single business it is your choice as a business owner.
Why Share Your Spare Office Space?
There is a wide range of reasons why you may choose to rent out your spare office space. From supporting your local business community, opening up collaboration opportunities between you and another business in a complimentary sector or to simply bring that little bit of extra cash into your bank account, the options are endless.
Can I Get Funding To Share My Office?
Yes, depending on your business, industry and location. Down to the impact of COVID 19, many businesses have suffered financially between lockdown measures and the general impact on the global economy. However, as a business owner, you are not on your own and the government has already created a £12.33 billion pot of funding available for businesses. Companies were able to access this funding pot through various routes such as small business grants and the retail, hospitality and leisure grants fund. However, this original scheme was based on whether a company paid business rates. As a result, smaller companies and those in shared offices did not qualify for these grants of up to £10,000. This has left over 10,000 business struggling to survive in these current economic times.
However, the government has pledged an additional 5% in available funding, specifically targeted at those companies who were overlooked in the original scheme. This increase equates to roughly £617 million in grants to help companies plug the gaps in their finances which have been caused by the current economic turbulence. These additional funds, pledged by the government, will be accessible to companies who share office space and therefore might not be required to pay business rates or who pay council tax instead (for example; a bed and breakfast). It is always worth looking at local authorities as some offer regional incentives as well as other support funding such as Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Enterprise Zone and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)
Thing To Consider Before You Advertise Your Spare Office Space
So you have decided to take that next step and list your spare office space, what now?
First off, you need to ask yourself a few simple questions before you write your advert. These would include:
- What does the area offer? Why should people want to work or have an office in your area?
- Are their other shared offices or coworking spaces in the area? What do they charge?
- If you are renting your office, are their restrictions on sharing your office or subletting?
- Do you have or need a basic licence?
- Do you want the option of potential collaborations? Do you want to share your office with companies in similar or complementary industries to yours?
- Will you provide furnishings such as desks and chairs?
- Do you want to share resources such as printers?
- Do you want to share utilities such as wifi and phone lines?
- How much do you want to charge?
and finally:
- How are you going to advertise your spare desk or office space? Do want to manage the listing yourself or a middle man like a letting agent?
Once you know what you want to offer and how much you want to charge you can write your advert/listing and start making full use of your office space. Happy listing!
