The hidden costs of renting your own office: deposit, service charge, fit-out and unused space

When you start looking for an office in a central district for an eight-person team, the listing price is usually quoted as monthly rent per square metre. The total cost, however, is far above that figure. We have listed the items to see before you decide.

1. Deposit and upfront payments

With commercial leases, a deposit equal to three months' rent, the agent's commission and the first month's rent leave your account quickly. For a 64 m² office for eight people, the amount paid upfront on day one can easily reach hundreds of thousands of lira.

2. Service charges and shared costs

In business centres, the service charge covers security, lifts, parking, shared-area cleaning and heating and cooling, and can run to hundreds of lira per square metre. Listings often do not state it.

3. Fit-out and furniture investment

For desks, chairs, cabinets, network infrastructure, a printer, a meeting table and a security system it is realistic to budget around forty thousand lira per person. You usually write this off over three to five years, but when the lease ends fit-out items other than furniture do not come back to you.

4. Running costs

Internet, electricity, water, cleaning, tea and coffee, paper and consumables, and a security system subscription. Expect a monthly cost of two to three thousand lira per person.

5. Tax and bureaucracy

Rent payments carry obligations such as withholding and stamp duty. On renewal, rent increases are legally limited, but when you sign a new agreement the market price applies. The information in this section is general; consult your accountant for details.

6. Unused space and the cost of inflexibility

This is the least visible and most expensive item: if the team shrinks to six or grows to twelve, the office is either empty or too small. A long lease limits your decisions on growing or shrinking.

Comparison

For a hypothetical eight-person team: a 64 m² office, 700 TRY/m² rent, 150 TRY/m² service charge, 2,500 TRY per person running costs and fit-out written off over 36 months come to roughly 83,000 TRY a month. Eight flexible desks plus extra meeting room use for the same team come to around 43,000 TRY. Enter your own numbers in the office cost calculator on our site to compare.

Of course, for some teams their own office is still the right choice: brand identity, a dedicated laboratory or a team over a hundred people. But for the first two years a flexible space lets many companies put their capital into the business.

Checklist before you decide

• Estimate your real team size for the next 12 months.
• Add the service charge and VAT to the price in the listing.
• Work out in how many months you will write off the fit-out investment.
• Read the lease's early termination and assignment terms.