The real estate industry is struggling with rising ancillary office costs, as the "second rent" is becoming increasingly expensive for office users. Factors such as the coronavirus pandemic, working from home, and rising energy costs are contributing to this trend. But how can users get a better handle on ancillary office costs or even influence them positively?
We generally understand ancillary rental costs to be costs that arise in addition to the rent for the use of a property and are clearly defined in the rental agreement. These ancillary costs arise from various factors such as gas, water, electricity, insurance, and maintenance work.
To provide a clear overview of these ancillary costs, NEO publishes relevant key figures for the real estate industry on an annual basis. The focus here is on analyzing ancillary costs for asset and property managers, as well as owner-occupiers. NEO has set itself the task of defining, collecting, and evaluating all impacts resulting from office use
and provide answers on what new work could look like in the future.
The NEO 2022 edition has recently been published and provides a significantly higher level of data analysis than the previous report. With 800 buildings and 40 well-known owners and service providers from Germany, this represents an office space equivalent to 12 million square meters and provides insightful key figures in the area of ancillary office costs.
The data analysis has shown that in older office buildings with spacious office structures, the space consumption per employee is around 40% higher. However, operating costs are around 30% lower than in newer buildings, as they have significantly less technical equipment. The result clearly shows that older office buildings are no longer among the winners in terms of low costs and that newer buildings are by no means cheaper despite more efficient use of space.
The current evaluation also shows that despite lower employee utilization in the office, costs have remained high. According to a Statista study, only 45% of employees are present in the office, while a small percentage are on vacation, absent due to illness, or working from home.
A rethink is needed, especially at the present time. Employers should therefore increasingly consider modern office usage concepts such as coworking, shared desks, or working from home. Many companies have already embraced the new ways of working, also known as New Work, and successfully established them during the coronavirus pandemic.
Older existing buildings in particular are being encouraged to adapt to new and modern working environments.
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