Office leasing, explained
The seven things a tenant has to understand before a lease proposal means anything — what you are actually being quoted, what you will be billed for, and what you owe at the end.
Net vs gross lease: what is the difference?
In a gross lease the rent is a single all-inclusive figure and the landlord pays the building outgoings out of it. In a net lease you pay a base rent and then your p...
Outgoings in a commercial lease: what tenants actually pay
Outgoings are the costs of running and owning a building that the landlord recovers from tenants — council and water rates, building insurance, cleaning, security, l...
Make good: what you owe the landlord at the end of the lease
Make good is your obligation to return the premises at the end of the lease in the condition the lease specifies. Depending on the wording that can mean stripping th...
Office lease incentives: how they work
A lease incentive is what a landlord gives back to win your tenancy: a rent-free period, a contribution to your fitout, a rent abatement spread across the term, or a...
Permitted use: the clause that decides what you can do in the space
The permitted use clause states what the premises may be used for, and using them for anything else is a breach of the lease. Wording that is too narrow can stop you...
The Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic): does it cover my office?
The Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) protects tenants of "retail premises" — premises used wholly or predominantly for the sale or hire of goods by retail, or for the re...
Typical office lease terms by building grade
Lease terms in Australia follow the building, not the tenant. A serviced office is a short all-inclusive licence with no make good and no bank guarantee; a premium C...
Looking for numbers rather than definitions? See what office space costs across Australia in the cost guide, or suburb-level rents with sample sizes in the rent benchmarks.
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