MAKE YOUR FREE Office sharing agreement

An office sharing agreement is an agreement between an owner of office space and another business. It can be used where the provider of the space owns the property or has a lease of the property.

If you have spare workstations in your office, licence these out to other businesses using this office rental agreement for useful and lucrative results. This shared office space agreement will put things on a formal footing and includes details of the workstations to be used, the period for which they are available and the licence fee payable for the specific shared office.

Use this office sharing agreement:

• when you own or have a lease of the property
• when you want to share workstations at the property with another business
• when you want to share the space for a short amount of time

Find out more about sharing space for business purposes.

This office rental agreement covers:

• granting the right to use workstations without defining a specific area
• licence fee payable
• interest on overdue payments
• rights given to the user
• termination

Rent or operating expenses for office space can be one of the most significant costs for a business. This office sharing agreement allows you to bring in another business to share these costs by granting them the use of a workspace within the property.

The office sharing agreement is not a lease, it is a contractual licence. The key difference is that a licence does not grant rights over a defined and fixed area. This agreement provides the sharer with a set number of workstations but does not specify their location.

The 'provider' is the person who is granting the right to share. The 'sharer' is the individual or company sharing the office space. If there is more than one sharer, each must be named to ensure they remain joint and severally liable under the agreement. There can be a maximum of four sharers.

If you hold the property under a lease, check carefully for any clauses that would prevent or restrict sharing with another business. If the landlord's consent for sharing is needed, this must be obtained before completing this agreement and allowing the sharer to move in.

You do not need to attach a plan to the agreement but if one is attached it must only show the initial location of the workstations. You must retain the right to alter the location of workstations to ensure that the agreement is not interpreted as a lease, rather than as a licence.

You'll need to determine the amount that the sharer must pay for the space. Under the agreement, the sharer must pay any VAT due on the licence fee. The licence fee can be a weekly or monthly figure and the agreement covers the situation where the agreement starts mid-way through a month. For example, if the sharer moved in on 15 March the payment would be half the monthly figure for the period up to 31 March with the next monthly payment being due on 1 April.

The licence fee can be inclusive of the costs of services (eg internet, photocopying, reception and secretarial services) and towards utility bills. Alternatively, you can charge a licence fee and demand additional sums to reflect a contribution towards the cost of any services and utilities.

The agreement runs for a specified period unless it is terminated by either party on notice and you must include a start and end date.

Ask a lawyer for:

• long term arrangements
• advice if your lease prevents you from sharing the property with anyone else
• workstations that cannot be moved to another space in the property