Top Five Mistakes Tenants Make When Negotiating Leases (and How to Avoid Them)

Leasing commercial office space is one of the most important and expensive decisions an organisation makes. Yet too often, tenants enter lease negotiations underprepared, unaware of market dynamics, or without clear strategic intent. This results in missed opportunities, increased costs, and long-term constraints.

At PPA Partners, we act exclusively for tenants, and these are the top five mistakes we help our clients avoid:

·         Starting too late. Engaging too close to lease expiry (typically under 6 months) severely limits your leverage. We recommend starting 12–18 months out to allow enough time for market testing, internal alignment, and meaningful negotiation, whether you’re renewing, relocating, or reconfiguring.

·         Focusing only on rent. It’s not just about the rent. Outgoings, incentives, rent reviews, make-good obligations, and reinstatement costs all affect your total occupancy cost. We take a holistic view to optimise the entire deal structure, not just the headline figure.

·         Underestimating fit out and relocation costs. Relocating or refitting comes with hidden costs: compliance, technology, design, change management, and operational downtime. We identify these upfront and structure landlord contributions to offset them where appropriate.

·         Accepting ‘standard’ lease terms. There is no such thing as a ‘standard’ lease. Every clause from termination rights to market review is negotiable. We work to ensure that every term reflects your operational and commercial needs, not just the landlord’s template.

·         Going it alone. Landlords use professional advisors to protect their interests. So should you. At PPA Partners, we bring independence, deep market insight, and strategic rigour, with no conflict of interest.

If your lease expires within the next 6–18 months, or you’re reviewing your workplace strategy, we would welcome a confidential conversation.