·
5 minute read
If your office no longer works as well as it should, there are usually two options: Stay and refurbish, or relocate and start again.
The right answer depends on more than rent, square footage or how tired the current office looks.
You need to consider whether your existing building can support your future headcount, working patterns, technical requirements, location needs and long-term plans.
In simple terms:
Refurbish if the building still works for the business.
Relocate if the building itself is becoming the problem.
Key takeaways
Define what the business needs from its workplace before choosing a property outcome.
Assess peak occupancy, activities and space mix alongside total floor area.
Test the existing building and new options against the same brief.
Compare full costs, timing, disruption and long-term adaptability.
Include employees, technical specialists, finance and property advisers in the decision.
Start with what the business actually needs
Before comparing properties, costs or refurbishment options, define what the business needs from its workplace.
That means looking at things like headcount, working patterns, meeting space, collaboration, client areas, technical requirements and future growth.
Ask yourself:
- Is the current office genuinely too small, or just poorly configured?
- Are there enough of the right types of spaces?
- Can the building support your future technical requirements?
- Does the location still work for employees and clients?
- Are you likely to need more space in the next few years?
The clearer the requirement, the easier it becomes to judge whether your current office can meet it.
If you're still defining the brief, our Office Fit-Out Planning Guide takes you through the key decisions to make before starting a workplace project.
Could your existing office work better?
An office can feel too small without actually being too small.
Poor layouts, underused areas, oversized meeting rooms and the wrong balance of spaces can all make a workplace feel more constrained than it really is.
Before deciding to relocate, look at how the office is actually being used. Consider:
- peak occupancy, not just total headcount
- desk and meeting room utilisation
- where people collaborate, focus and meet clients
- areas that are consistently underused
- whether the layout can adapt as the business grows
Our Office Space Calculator can help you estimate how much space your business actually needs, giving you a clearer picture of whether your current office is suitable or if it's time to consider something new.
British Council for Offices research published in 2025 found that UK office utilisation had settled at around 66%, compared with the long-standing 80% benchmark.
That matters because an office can feel full or inefficient without actually needing more space. Understanding when and how people use the workplace can reveal whether you genuinely need a bigger building or simply a better layout.
Sometimes, the answer isn't more space. It's better use of the space.
Can the building support what you need next?
A better layout will only take you so far. You also need to know whether the building can support the way the business is likely to operate in the future.
Look at things like:
- power and data capacity
- heating, cooling and ventilation
- accessibility
- security requirements
- landlord restrictions
- specialist or operational requirements
- whether the building can be expanded or adapted later
This is where technical due diligence becomes important.
A building may look right on paper, but if major upgrades are needed to make it work, that can quickly change the case for staying.
The question is not just “Can we refurbish this office?”
It is “Can this building support where the business is going?”
Compare the real cost of staying and moving
It is easy to compare refurbishment costs with the rent on a new office and think you have your answer. You usually don’t.
Staying can involve refurbishment, temporary accommodation, phased works, infrastructure upgrades and disruption to day-to-day operations. Moving can involve:
- surveys and legal costs
- a new fit-out
- furniture and technology
- removals
- overlapping leases
- dilapidations on the office you are leaving
Dilapidations are also worth understanding early.
RICS advises commercial tenants to consider their potential dilapidations liability throughout the lease and budget for it. Depending on the lease, this can include repairs, redecoration and reinstating alterations before you leave.
So if relocation is on the table, don't treat the fit-out of the new office as the only project cost. The cost of handing the old one back can matter too.
The right comparison is the whole cost of creating the workplace you need, not just the headline property or fit-out cost.
You should also consider the impact on the business. A cheaper option can quickly become expensive if it creates months of disruption, slows operations or leaves you with another space problem in a few years.
Does the location still work?
Moving office is not just a property decision. It can affect commuting, recruitment, retention, client access and how often people actually use the workplace.
Ask yourself:
- Is the office easy for employees to get to?
- Does the location support the talent you want to attract?
- Is it convenient for clients and visitors?
- Would a move improve or worsen commute times?
- Does the area still reflect where the business wants to be?
A move that looks small on a map can feel very different to the people travelling there every day. Equally, staying in the same location does not mean keeping the same workplace.
A refurbishment can completely change how the office supports people, culture and the way teams work.
Will the space still work in three to five years?
A workplace should solve today’s problems without creating tomorrow’s. Think about how the business could change over the next few years.
Could headcount grow? Could teams be reorganised? Will you need more client space, specialist areas or different technology? Could security, power or operational requirements become more demanding?
You do not need to predict the future perfectly. You do need enough flexibility to adapt. If your current office can be reconfigured as the business changes, refurbishment may make sense.
If you are already close to the building’s limits, a move may give you more room to grow without having to solve the same problem again in a few years.
So, should you refurbish or relocate?
Refurbish if your current location still works, the building can support your future needs and the space can be improved without unacceptable cost or disruption.
Relocate if the building is limiting growth, infrastructure, accessibility, operations or the way your people need to work.
If the answer is not obvious, you probably need more information before making the property decision.
Define the requirement. Test the existing building. Test the alternatives. Then compare them properly.
Our Office Fit-Out Planning Readiness Assessment can help you understand how ready you are, where the gaps are and whether staying or moving looks like the stronger route.
How Habit Action would approach the decision
We would start with the organisation: its objectives, people, ways of working and operational requirements. We would then compare what the existing building can support with what a shortlisted new property could deliver. Test fits, technical reviews, programme planning and a clear brief help turn an instinctive stay-or-go debate into a decision supported by evidence.
Our Atlas Copco Group project shows how important the full brief can be. Its new 55,000 sq ft headquarters needed to bring five divisions together and accommodate production, warehouse and workshop facilities as well as offices.
The building was assessed against those combined needs and transformed to support them. It is an example of testing property and workplace requirements together; it does not mean that moving will be right for every organisation.
A good starting point is understanding how much space your organisation actually needs. Our Office Space Calculator can help you estimate your requirements based on your people and ways of working, giving you a clearer picture of whether your existing office has the potential to work or whether a move might make more sense.
FAQs
Is it cheaper to refurbish or relocate an office?
There is no universal answer. Refurbishment may retain a suitable location and avoid some moving costs, but significant infrastructure work or phasing can change the calculation. Relocation adds property, fit-out and moving costs, but may solve constraints the existing building cannot. Compare the full costs and business impact for both options over a consistent period.
What should a company check before deciding to stay?
Check whether the existing building can support future headcount, the right mix of work settings, technical infrastructure, accessibility and any specialist requirements. Review the lease, landlord permissions, likely refurbishment scope and whether the business can continue operating during the works.
When is relocating the better option?
Relocation becomes more compelling when essential needs cannot be met in the present building: for example, an unsuitable location, insufficient capacity, fixed physical constraints or services that cannot be upgraded economically. The decision should follow a property and workplace assessment rather than assume that a move is automatically an improvement.
Can an office remain open during refurbishment?
Often it can, depending on the scope and building. Phased work, temporary workspace, controlled access and planned service shutdowns can help protect operations. The practical delivery plan and any safety constraints need assessing for the specific building before the business commits to staying.
