What is the difference between renting office space with and without service charges?

When searching for office space, you’ll encounter various rental structures. The main difference lies in service costs: with bare rental you only pay the rental price and arrange all facilities yourself, while with all-inclusive office rental all service costs are already included in the monthly price. This difference can significantly impact your monthly expenses and the time you spend on facility management.

In this article, we explain what service costs exactly entail, when which option works out more advantageous, and how you can fairly compare the total costs of different office options.

What exactly are service costs in office rental?

Service costs in office rental are all costs on top of the bare rental price for facilities and services that you use as a tenant. These costs cover things like cleaning, security, reception, internet provision, climate control, maintenance of common areas and often also coffee and tea.

With traditional office rental, service costs are usually invoiced separately as a monthly amount alongside the rental price. The amount varies greatly per location, but often ranges between €15 and €45 per square meter per year. For a 50 m² office, this means €62 to €187 extra per month.

Typical service costs include:

Cleaning of office and common areas
Security and access control
Reception services and mail processing
Building maintenance and technical installations
Climate control and energy costs
Internet connection and telephony
Use of meeting rooms (often for additional fee)

What is the difference between all-inclusive and bare rental of office space?

With bare rental you only pay the rental price and arrange all facilities yourself, while with all-inclusive office rental all service costs are already included in one monthly price. This difference determines how much time and money you spend on organizing your workplace.

Bare rental means you rent an empty office without amenities. You arrange contracts yourself for internet, cleaning, security and other services. This gives you complete control over quality and costs, but also requires a lot of time and organization.

All-inclusive office rental bundles all facilities in one monthly price. You can start working immediately without having to find suppliers or arrange contracts yourself. At serviced offices in Amstelveen you often also get access to meeting rooms, a staffed reception and premium amenities, such as a corporate restaurant.

The big advantage of all-inclusive is predictability: you know exactly what you’ll spend monthly and don’t have to fear unexpected costs for repairs or maintenance.

What additional costs come with bare office rental?

With bare office rental, quite a few costs come on top of the rental price. You should expect €20 to €60 per square meter per year in additional costs, depending on the quality and quantity of services you use.

Mandatory costs that always apply:

Internet connection: €50-150 per month for business fiber
Cleaning: €8-15 per m² per year
Utilities: €15-25 per m² per year (gas, water, electricity)
Insurance: €3-8 per m² per year
Municipal taxes: €5-15 per m² per year

Optional costs that are often needed:

Security: €100-300 per month
Reception services: €200-500 per month
Meeting rooms: €25-75 per hour
Parking spaces: €50-150 per space per month
Maintenance and repairs: €5-12 per m² per year

For a 50 m² office, you’ll quickly face €500-800 in additional costs per month, on top of the bare rental price. Always check with different office options what is and isn’t included.

When is all-inclusive office rental more advantageous?

All-inclusive office rental is usually more advantageous for companies up to 10 employees who prefer to spend their time on business rather than facility management. For smaller office spaces (up to 85 m²), the economies of scale of all-inclusive are greatest.

All-inclusive is especially worthwhile when:

You need an office of 25-85 m²
You regularly use meeting rooms
You value a professional reception
You don’t want to spend time managing suppliers
Predictable monthly costs are important to you
You need flexibility to scale up quickly

For larger companies (100+ m²), bare rental can become more interesting, as you then have more influence on the quality of services and can possibly negotiate better rates with suppliers. Also, if you have very specific requirements for IT infrastructure or security, bare rental offers more possibilities for customization.

A simple calculation: If the all-inclusive price is less than €25-30 per m² per month higher than the bare rental price, all-inclusive is often more advantageous when you factor in all additional costs and your own time.

How do you compare the total costs of different office options?

To fairly compare office options, you need to convert all costs to one total amount per month. Add all additional costs to bare rental and compare that with the all-inclusive price, including the value of your own time for facility management.

Step-by-step comparison:

List all monthly costs: rental price + service costs + internet + cleaning + security + utilities + insurance
Convert one-time costs: deposit, setup costs and connection fees divided by the number of months you’ll likely be there
Calculate facility usage: how many hours of meeting room do you use per month? What does that cost extra?
Value your own time: how many hours per month do you spend on facility management? What is that time worth?

Example comparison for a 50 m² office:

Bare rental:
€1,750 all-in = €1,750 total

In this case, all-inclusive is €150 per month more advantageous, and you also save time and worry.

How Kronenberg Offices helps with transparent office costs

We offer all-inclusive office units from 25 to 85 m² where all costs are transparently included in one monthly price. No surprises, no additional bills and no hassle with different suppliers.

What’s all included in our all-inclusive price:

Fully furnished office unit with professional furniture
Ultra-fast fiber internet connection (wifi and wired)
Daily cleaning and maintenance
Access to 8 meeting rooms and lounges
Staffed reception and mail processing
24/7 security and access
Premium coffee, tea and use of pantries
Ample parking facilities

Our prices start from €1,250 per month for 25 m² and are completely transparent, without hidden costs. Want to know what your ideal office solution costs? View more about our approach or contact us directly for a no-obligation viewing and personal advice.