Rent an Office in London
London is one of the most exciting and diverse office markets in the world, with a fantastic choice of workplace options. Shared offices and hot desking hubs like WeWork are booming, while there’s still plenty of impressive commercial real estate to satisfy major corporations, banks and vast multinationals like Google.
Whether you’re a freelancer ready to take the plunge, an established business looking for a new headquarters or a startup looking for a place to grow, we’re here to help you rent office space with ease.
I know what I want, but how do I find it?
When you know what you want the search is so much easier. You can instantly filter out what doesn’t fit and get yourself a shortlist of candidates.
Using Hubble you can search thousands of offices in London by every variable you can think of: location, price, number of desks, type of desk - private office, fixed desk or hot desk.
All the offices that match your criteria will pop up in a list and on a map of the city, so you can see their locations and rental prices. It’s as easy as that.
You can also filter results by a range of facilities - including 24-hour access, reception services, pet-friendly offices and shower rooms. Then it’s just a matter of adding the offices you like to your shortlist, saved for you next time you visit the platform.
We’ve also created a range of tailored solutions to help speed up searches and show you a cherry-picked selection of London offices that are ideally suited to freelancers, creative agencies, growing startups and bigger businesses.
Schedule packed and don’t have time to search? Just get in touch. Let us know your budget, what you’re looking for and where, and Hubble will recommend some options for you to view immediately.
I need space, but I’m not sure what’s best for me?
It’s really important to go into your office search knowing what you want. With thousands of offices available across London it’s easy to get overwhelmed. You want to think about these key essentials first:
Prime location
So where do you want to call home? The individual needs of your business will make it better suited to one London neighbourhood over another. To help you decide where you want to base yourself, consider:
Clients, suppliers and employees
Who’s going to be using or visiting your office, and where are they likely to be coming from. Do you need to be close to a tube station airport or national rail station? Remember that Crossrail is on the way too.
Brand image
Is your business likely to benefit from a more prestigious address or certain locale?
Amenities
Great local amenities can play a part in maintaining a healthy, happy workforce. Are there any gyms nearby? What about green space? It’s proven to affect our happiness levels. Talk to your team about areas of the city they love, and why.
What business are you in?
Businesses in particular commercial sectors have always tended to cluster together around London. Having clients, suppliers, complementary businesses and even competitors on your doorstep can be really beneficial. Certain parts of London are synonymous with particular sectors that you may want to be part of:
Silicon Roundabout in Shoreditch is home to thousands of startups, particularly those in the tech industries. But new tech hotspots are beginning to pop up outside its EC1V postcode. According to Business Insider, City Road (N1), just north of the roundabout, and Leicester Square, thanks to Google’s presence nearby, have become new hubs of tech activity. Google’s new headquarters at King’s Cross, boasting it’s new AI research facility, is likely to draw tech startups to this area in the future too.
You’ll find major banks, and hence a huge assortment of financial services companies, clustered around the gleaming towers of The City, as well as Canary Wharf. Mayfair remains the spiritual home of wealth and hedge fund management companies.
Soho has long been the traditional hangout of the design, media and entertainment elite, including the likes of Warner Brothers. You’ll find a wealth of advertising, television and post-production talent here. Limited office space and soaring rents have led to further media hubs developing around more affordable Clerkenwell and Shoreditch.
Budget
Establishing your budget is a critical part of making your choice of office rental a success. Rents across London offices vary depending on:
- Area
- Office type
- Facilities
- Office size
Private offices are the most expensive, while shared office space is more affordable. With Hubble you can rent shared office space in London from less than £100 per desk to £2,000 per desk.
Using current WeWork rentals as a guide, you can rent up to 50 fixed desks in a shared office at it’s new Chancery Lane location from £450 per person per month, or choose a private office from between £504 to £842 per person.
Rents per square foot are most expensive in the West End, namely St. James, Mayfair, Kensington and Chelsea. The cheapest areas are Clerkenwell, Silicon Roundabout, Waterloo, Southwark and Canary Wharf.
Per square foot, serviced offices are more expensive than conventional office rentals, but it’s important to remember that serviced office rental price is fully inclusive of all bills, rates and essential services. For this reason, the UK Chartered Institute of Purchasing found that businesses can reduce costs by up to 78% when they use a serviced office rather than a self-managed office rental.
What types of offices are there?
Serviced office
This is an office that’s fully equipped and ready to go from the day you move in. A management company handles the day-to-day running of the building including cleaning, security and sometimes manned reception services. It’s the most hassle-free way to rent office space in London, and it’s favoured by many startups and SMBs for this reason. All your rates and bills, including Wi-Fi and calls, are included in one easy-to-handle monthly rental payment.
Coworking space
Typically offering a mixture of hot desks and fixed desks, as well as some private offices, coworking spaces are designed to put community at the heart of office life. You’ll do more than share facilities here. Coworking partners are encouraged to collaborate and provide something for the co-working community as a whole, from mentoring to talks and workshops. These spaces tend to be more relaxed, with hot desking and quirky breakout spaces.
Shared office
While co-working spaces are purpose-built for collaboration, shared offices tend to focus on professionalism. They often offer more in the way of fixed desks and private offices, with less inclination for hot desk space. Shared offices can give you more control of team culture and usually offer more by way of professional amenities.
Sublet
Another way to share is to sublet office space from an existing business. This is a real win-win where the host earns an income stream rather than losing money on empty desk space and you benefit from affordable rent, already established office facilities, and the potential for collaboration or increased business via your host.
Private office
Sometimes a business needs privacy, whether it’s to ensure a quiet environment for focused work or simply to keep your business developments out of earshot of competitors. If an open plan, shared work environment doesn’t suit your company culture, opt for a private office instead. They cost more than shared offices, but they allow you far more control over team culture and can present a more professional image to clients. You can also rent private office space within co-working facilities, shared offices and sublets so that you don’t miss out on those networking benefits.
Search smart
Whatever kind of office you’re looking for it’s a decision you want to get absolutely right. Here are our smarter search tips to ensure you rent an office that’s right for you:
Viewings
It’s so important to go and view a space before signing on the dotted line. Try and visit as many offices as you can to see what’s on offer and get a real feel for the spaces.
Chat to people who work there
No one knows the pros and cons of an office like the people who work there. Take time to find out how they feel about their office.
Short-term contract
Flexible short-term contracts are available, from just one-month rolling contracts to six or 12-month contracts, so that you don’t need to be tied down if an office turns out to be the wrong fit.
Test the space out for a day
Some hosts will let you trial run the office space for the day so you can get a better sense of whether it���s going to work out or not, or if you need any changes made to the office before you move in full-time.