Office Relocation Cost: What a London Office Move Really Costs in 2026

Office relocation cost: every line in one table

A removal quote covers the van and the crates. A relocation budget covers the lease you leave and the lease you sign, as well as the move. Nine lines make up most budgets.

The fit-out figures are our 2026 London rates, before VAT and fees. Furniture is £19 to £57 per sq ft and AV and IT £5 to £14, so together £24 to £71.

The IT figure is one UK IT firm's published median for a 40 to 80 seat move, excluding new hardware. Cloudswitched published it on 3 September 2026. It is a supplier's figure, not a quote.

We found no dated, named UK source for removals, so we print no figure. Ask two removers for a quote on your volume and floors.

VAT at 20 % applies to most goods and services, so to most lines above. Whether you can recover it depends on your VAT position, so ask your accountant.

Fitting out the new office is the biggest cost

Take a 60-person team. At about 100 sq ft per person that is a 6,000 sq ft floor. The fit-out alone runs well into six figures before anything else is added.

Both numbers are before VAT. The fit-out line is our arithmetic on our own rates: 6,000 sq ft at £90, £128 and £185 gives £540,000, £768,000 and £1,110,000. The IT line is Cloudswitched's median of £1,250 per desk, times 60.

Our rates are for a Cat B fit-out on a Cat A floor in good order. That is the landlord's base build plus your meeting rooms, kitchen, furniture, AV and IT. A shell floor costs more, because the landlord's base build is then yours to pay for.

The full table by spec is in our office fit out cost per sq ft guide. For your own floor, use the office fit-out cost calculator.

Two cautions on the IT line. First, check what your fit-out price already includes, because cabling can sit in both. Second, budget it early: Cloudswitched's own case study shows a 54-person firm spending just over £96,000 against a £28,000 line.

Want the fit-out figure before you sign? Send us the plan and we price the fit out of your new office in London from it.

Leaving the old office: dilapidations and reinstatement

This cost arrives after you have left. It is the work your lease says you owe on the old office, and the landlord prices it in a schedule of dilapidations.

The Dilapidations Protocol sets the expected order. The landlord's schedule generally comes within 56 days after the lease ends. You usually respond within 56 days after the landlord sends its demand. It is expected conduct, not a statutory deadline.

So the bill lands while the new fit-out is already paid for. Read the repair, decoration and reinstatement clauses before you commit to a move date. Then budget a figure for them.

Our guide to a schedule of dilapidations costs sets out what a schedule lists, the published cost benchmark and how to respond. Strip-out and reinstatement are building work, so a contractor's price from a survey is a useful second view against the landlord's.

Tax, fees and the rent you pay twice

Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to a new non-residential lease in two parts. The premium is taxed at 0 % up to £150,000, 2 % on the next £100,000 and 5 % above £250,000. The rent is taxed on its net present value.

The two parts are calculated separately, then added together. A lease whose rent has a net present value under £150,000 pays no SDLT on the rent. Your solicitor will confirm the figure on your lease.

Business rates start on the new premises. They follow the property's rateable value and a multiplier set for the tax year. Look up the building's rateable value on gov.uk before you sign.

Overlap rent is the cost people forget. You pay rent on the new floor while it is fitted out. You also carry the old office until the lease ends. The fit-out programme decides how many weeks both run.

Beaumont House shows what a short programme does. The client had five weeks before the lease expired and other contractors quoted at least 12 weeks. We were on site two weeks after the first contact. We rebuilt 750 sq m in three weeks for £350K and moved the furniture and equipment.

How a landlord contribution or rent-free period offsets the move

Landlords compete for tenants with incentives. They come in three forms: a rent-free period, a capital contribution towards your fit-out, or landlord's works done before you move in.

Each form lowers a different line. A rent-free period covers rent while the floor is fitted out, so it attacks the overlap. A contribution lowers the fit-out line. Landlord's works shrink the scope you have to price.

The form matters as much as the amount. In many deals you fund the works first and the contribution follows against evidence. Tax treatment also differs by form, so take advice before you accept one.

Our guide to a landlord fit-out contribution explains the three forms and what to agree in the heads of terms. Price your fit-out first, so you know what the incentive has to cover.

Relocate or refurbish: what changes on the cost sheet

Both routes pay for building work. Laxton's 2026 puts UK office refurbishment at £1,000 to £1,800 per m² for the building work, before fees and VAT. Our all-in relocation fit-out rates are £971 to £1,994 per m², because they include furniture, AV and IT.

The ranges overlap. So the fit-out is not what separates the two routes. The move lines are.

Staying costs you phasing and out-of-hours work. It also keeps the building you have. Our office refurbishment cost guide prices that side per m². Cost both routes on the same floor area, then compare the totals.

Building the relocation budget in six steps

You can finish the first three this month. They need your lease and a floor plan, not a survey.

1. Lease dates. Note the lease end, any break date and the clauses on repair and reinstatement.
2. Floor area. Work out the area from headcount, at about 100 sq ft per person as a first cut.
3. Fit-out figure. Run the calculator for a range, then ask for a fixed figure after a survey.
4. Move lines. Get IT, removals and fee quotes for your own seats and volume.
5. Tax and rent. Ask your solicitor for SDLT and your accountant for VAT. Look up the new rateable value.
6. Programme. Work back from the lease end and add the overlap weeks to the total.

Our office relocation checklist takes the same move month by month, from team and brief to snagging. Ready for step 3? Get a fixed figure and send us the floor plan.