Offices
Lease Expense Management for Office Occupiers.
- The challenge
Cost inflation in the Office sector is rising again, increasing from 3.6% in 2025 to 6.3% in 2026.
However, the picture is more mixed than last year, with costs for the more expensive buildings being relatively flat, whereas costs for the less expensive buildings have increased more significantly.
Energy costs have eased further, although the current unrest in the Middle East is making future costs uncertain. This could have an impact on both 2026 costs at reconciliation stage and 2027, both directly through increased energy costs and indirectly through impacts on the wider economy.
The focus on service charges as a significant proportion of overall property occupancy costs remains as important as ever.
- Solution
VeriviTM is our own proprietary software platform. It provides visibility and control of service charges, insurance, rent data and more, across your property portfolio. Comprehensive data collection and detailed reporting functions mean that we can ensure ongoing lease liabilities across all expenditure headings are challenged, managed and controlled.
- UK Offices Index 2026
After a year of more moderate cost increases, 2026 Office service charges are now increasing ahead of inflation at a rate of 6.3%. The picture is mixed, with costs for the more expensive offices actually decreasing slightly whereas lower cost offices are experiencing a material increase. Read our latest index for further analysis and insights into what to expect during 2026.
“IWG has worked with Assure since October 2018, initially undertaking a trial of twenty sites before being instructed to represent us across our whole UK property portfolio in 2019. Assure’s support has resulted in substantial improvements in the management of our service charge liabilities across our portfolio. Budgets and reconciliations are received in a more timely manner and Assure is able to utilise its substantial pool of service charge data to provide us with detailed benchmarking information, which assists us greatly with management of our property costs. I would recommend Assure’s services to any occupier of leased property who is keen to proactively manage their lease expense costs and ensure that they are receiving value for money from their landlords.”