Hot desking: all you need to know
Hot desking is a phenomenon that’s been growing in recent years, but what’s it all about? In a nutshell it is desk sharing on a short-term basis and most importantly it’s pretty much the most flexible type of office rental. This makes it a great option for people such as freelancers and entrepreneurs, whose need for office space tends to be situational and changeable at short notice.
What is a hot desk?
Hot desking offices offer workstations to rent on a pay-per use, often short-term basis. No one has a set spot; you’ll be assigned to a shared desk upon your arrival. Once you’re done with it, the desk will be inhabited by someone else. This makes it a really efficient way of using space.
How does a hot desking space work?
What you get
Because you’re sharing with other people, hot desking offices tend to keep things fairly minimal. They usually provide the most basic all-inclusive packages on the market. You’ll generally get:
- A desk and a chair
- All utilities (including broadband) and building fees included in the rent
You’ll have to keep your desk clear, so bear in mind you’ll probably have to carry your equipment to and from the office on each visit. This means it might not be practical to bring things such as a monitor, so if you need these sorts of extras make sure they’re available.
Contracts
The terms of a hot desk lease can vary greatly. At some offices the desks are available for rent on a per-hour basis; you can just turn up and pay for what you use. Others offer you a desk for a day, while some might ask you to sign up for a week or a month.
A few serviced office providers will give you either a weekly or monthly pass; you simply turn up to any of their centres and work away. However, with these slightly longer-term options you’re probably going to have to pay in advance.
One thing that’s undeniable is that hot desking is generally one of the most flexible desk rental options; the longest you’re likely to have to sign up for is a month.
Costs
It’s hard to give an average of how much hot desking costs, as leases can work on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. However, as a general rule you’ll be looking at paying around £10 for a day of hot desking. As you only have to pay for what you use, a hot desk can be a pretty cheap way to rent office space.
So, is it for me?
Yes, if:
- You want to lease an affordable, all-inclusive space that can also offer tons of flexibility – particularly on a short term basis.
- You want to enjoy the buzz of office life. Hot desking spaces can be really vibrant, inspirational places to work. You might well find opportunities for collaboration too.
No, if:
- You travel heavy.
- You have sensitive data and you might have a problem sending this through a shared network.
Using Office Genie to find hot desks
The search box above will take you to our extensive list of serviced office properties, many of which offer hot desking. So, to find yourself a space:
- Enter the location you’d like to search. This can be a town, city, street name or postcode.
- You can also add the ideal price you’d like to pay, or the number of people you’ll need to accommodate.
- Use our distance tool if you’d like to change the size of the search area and see if you can find a really cheap office. These are often a little further out of town.
- Click on any property that takes your fancy to see more details.
- On the advert, click ‘Request details’ and ask if they’ve got hot desks for rent.
