Office Genie guide to finding Office Space in Victoria
Office Genie maintains a national database of office space which includes Victoria office space. A conventional lease remains the most popular way to rent office space, but increasingly businesses are looking at Victoria serviced offices, shared offices, and desk space schemes as a way of reducing long-term rental commitment and ensuring more flexible use of space in case of business expansion and contraction.
The guide below explains about the different types of Victoria office space to rent.
Conventional offices to let in Victoria
Conventional office space for rent is available in all shapes and sizes in Victoria, and the key is for the prospective tenant to clearly define their needs and budget up front, including:
- Size of office: As a rough guide, allow 50 to 75 square feet per person. Office Genie does this step for you and tells you roughly how many people you can fit in an office based on 50 sq ft/person.
- Cost to rent office space: Unfurnished offices space generally looks quite cheap compared to serviced and shared space, but remember that there's other costs involved apart from the rent: legal fees and building management to name a couple.
- Budgeting: It's vital to remember that there will be significant other costs when taking on a leased office, both one-off initial costs and ongoing running costs, including legal advice, furniture and decoration, building management, and dilapidations.
- Commitment: Commercial leases have got shorter in recent years, but you'll still likely be asked for a commitment of at least three years for office rental. Make sure you're happy that this fits in with your business growth plan.
Serviced offices in Victoria
Serviced office space in Victoria is a completely different proposition to conventional leased office space. In a conventional unfurnished office, you pay for the space and you have to manage it. If you move into a serviced office then a management company (the serviced office provider) will be running the building and managing all the building services, normally including but not limited to office furniture and decor, reception (physical and phone answering), broadband and networking, IT support, heating, lighting and ventilation, building maintenance, and post.
Serviced offices in Victoria have a number of typical features which make them a useful alternative to conventional office space for many small businesses:
- if space is available, it's typically available immediately
- choose from different qualities of space, from basic to executive offices
- rent space by the desk
- expand and contract as you like: take on more desks and reduce the number of desks when it suits the business
- pay one monthly bill for all office services
- flexible rolling contract; no long-term lease and no commercial lease negotiation
- meet neighbouring businesses in a more open environment (serviced offices are often referred to as 'business centres' for this reason)
- many larger serviced office providers run desk schemes which even allow you to move flexibly between locations
A serviced office in Victoria is also a useful option if you just want temporary office space - for example if you are between offices or a running a short to medium term project in a particular location.
Shared office space in Victoria
The practice of sharing office space in Victoria has been growing at a rapid pace in the past couple of years. If you're a business in an office with spare space, it makes so much sense to let out that space to one or several other businesses and freelancers. The host business makes some extra rental cash and generates a busy, buzzy atmosphere that normally benefits everyone.
The main advantages of renting a desk as part of an office share are:
- no long-term commitment and liabilities: contracts are usually rolling monthly (unlike long-term commercial leases)
- existing facilities/infrastructure: broadband, security, meeting rooms and so on usually be in place already.
- move in straight away: shared office space is usually available immediately; you don't get delays for lease negotiations and refurbishments.
- hassle-free admin: the monthly fee will usually include all rates and utilities, so you just pay one bill and don't need to administrate or negotiate with office suppliers.
- enjoyable workplace: co-working can be great; rather than be stuck in a small office by yourself, a shared office can provide a professional, stimulating environment, as well as people to go to the pub with after work!
Desk space in Victoria
In addition to the "spare couple of desks in the corner" operations (of which there are many), there are more and more actual rent-a-desk schemes in Victoria where letting out desks becomes a major (or even the sole, in some cases) revenue generator for the shared office provider.
Desk space schemes sound, and in some cases are, a bit like serviced office space. The key difference is generally the service level; serviced office schemes generally offer reception and IT support services, for example, which you wouldn't expect in a desk scheme. As a result rent-a-desk schemes can be a quite cheap but still offer some services over and above other shared offices (such as meeting rooms and hot desking), and normally have more of a shared-office look and feel.
What next?
You should be able to find the best office rental in Victoria for you on Office Genie by searching our database of currently available space. If not, then we also offer an advisory service where we carry out an active search on your behalf and alert you if suitable new space becomes available. This service is completely free-of-charge.
Call our office search helpline on 0203 053 3890.