The Real Cost of Office Space: should I rent a traditional or serviced office?
An illustrative comparison of traditional, managed and serviced offices: explicit assumptions, recurring costs and upfront investment, with team-size and occupancy scenarios. The result depends on the chosen inputs, not a universal team-size threshold.
By Wouter van den Brink · Founder, CEO
Original publication: unknown · Substantive review: unknown
The real cost of office space
A bare rent price and an all-in serviced-office price are not directly comparable. The outcome depends on location, quality, contract terms, included services, VAT treatment, required area and actual occupancy.
A transparent hypothetical comparison model
The calculation below is an example, not a quote or market survey. All amounts are illustrative model inputs, not taken from a current quote or market survey, and exclude VAT. We use Amsterdam Center as the location example, keep quality, term and scope equal, and use one year. Both options include the same service bundle in this model: cleaning, internet and telephony, coffee, supplies, access, insurance and access to shared meeting rooms. For a traditional office, the model assumes 10 m² per planned workstation, €450 rent and €75 service charges per m² per year. For that service bundle, it assumes €180 per m² per year. Fit-out is €500 per m² and furniture €2,000 per planned workstation. These amounts are not from a current market survey.
For serviced space, the model assumes €600 per workstation per month, including the same service bundle in this model and no separate fit-out. Managed is not automatically the same: furniture, fit-out, internet, cleaning, meeting rooms and reception can differ by provider and contract. Check the scope of each quote.
Recurring annual cost and one-time cash outlay
| Planned team | Traditional: m² | Traditional: recurring per year | Traditional: one-time fit-out/furniture | Serviced: recurring per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 100 | €70,500 | €70,000 | €72,000 |
| 20 | 200 | €141,000 | €140,000 | €144,000 |
| 30 | 300 | €211,500 | €210,000 | €216,000 |
The traditional annual amounts here consist of rent, service charges and the listed operating items. The serviced amounts are monthly price × workstations × 12. Deposit, moving costs, taxes, energy outside service charges, extra meeting-room use, termination or reinstatement costs and financing costs are excluded. The one-time amounts are cash outlays; without a chosen lifespan, they are not spread into annual cost as depreciation.
In this specific model, serviced is €1,500, €3,000 or €4,500 higher per year for 10, 20 or 30 planned workstations, while traditional requires the larger initial outlay. That result follows from these inputs; it is not a universal tipping point.
Occupancy sensitivity
Rent and the agreed workstation fee remain unchanged in this simple model when actual occupancy is temporarily lower. For 20 planned workstations, recurring amounts are €141,000 traditional and €144,000 serviced. At 70% average occupancy, the effective annual cost is €10,071 and €10,286 per occupied workstation respectively; at 90%, it is €7,833 and €8,000. This shows how vacancy raises effective cost per used workstation. It does not establish an occupancy rate or revenue outcome.
Cost items to check
Compare the same area definition, workstation capacity, term, indexation, deposit, VAT, service charges, energy, cleaning, internet, coffee, access, insurance, meeting rooms, maintenance, fit-out, furniture, reinstatement and possible vacancy in each scenario. Also state whether the calculation uses planned workstations or employees actually present.
A traditional office may offer more control and customisation, but may require more upfront capital, supplier management and exposure to unused space. Serviced space may offer predictable monthly cash outlay and flexibility, but can have contract-specific restrictions, extra charges for additional services and operator dependency. With managed space, fit-out, furniture and services may remain with the tenant or be offered by the provider; there is no universal OPEX classification.
Contract and VAT
A ROZ model is a model, not automatically the agreement. The current ROZ office-space model is from 2025; term, renewal, notice, handover and deviations must be checked in the completed agreement. There is no general rule here that every office term is five years or that every office must be returned to its original state. KVK identifies term, service charges, maintenance, utilities, taxes and subletting as matters to arrange in the contract. According to the Dutch Tax Administration, renting immovable property is usually VAT-exempt, subject to exceptions and conditions; determine the treatment for the specific product and agreement.
Conclusion
Use completed quotes and your own occupancy assumptions, not a team-size boundary as a market fact. A smaller team may value the lower initial investment and flexibility of serviced space; a larger or steadily occupied team may value customisation and traditional space's lower recurring cash outlay in this scenario. The choice requires comparing the same scope, available cash, expected occupancy, contract risk and operational capacity.