Choosing the cheapest office on the market can feel like a win. The rent is low. The numbers add up.
Then the hidden costs start to appear in slower work, rising sick days and a steady trickle of resignations. The saving on rent is tiny compared with the cost of losing good people.
Why can the cheapest office become the costliest mistake?
Low headline rent often means trade-offs on space quality. Research shared by Jade Leighton for Altruist, drawing on Claremont data, found that over half of UK employees describe their offices as uninspiring and 42% say the workspace does not make them feel valued.
That is not a design quibble. It is a signal that the environment is quietly eroding motivation.
Poor air, harsh lighting and noisy open layouts also add daily friction. Leighton notes that indoor air is typically two to five times worse than outside, which is linked to headaches, fatigue and lower performance.
Conversely, research from the World Green Building Council found that better indoor air quality can lift productivity by up to 11%. The same pattern applies to lighting; a University of Oregon report found that 78% of office workers said natural light and views improved their happiness and wellbeing.
The physical setup has a direct impact on retention as well. Data from the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors suggests effective ergonomic design can cut musculoskeletal problems by 61% and reduce lost workdays by 88%, with staff turnover down 87%.
Swap those percentages into your own headcount and salary bill and the math is simple. Saving a little on rent while paying for more absence and churn is not a saving at all.
This is proven in practice. Engineering firm Cundall saw staff turnover fall 27% and absenteeism drop 50% after its London office gained WELL certification. That kind of shift would be hard to match with any pay rise or perks budget.
Location has an equally direct effect on performance. Barney Williams at Zeelo highlights that U.S. businesses spend close to one trillion dollars a year on turnover costs, and stressful commutes are a major factor.
A cheap office on the edge of town with poor transport can push people to quit, which wipes out any rent saving through recruitment costs, onboarding time and lost knowledge.
When you pick an office on rent alone you are often accepting hidden trade-offs like:
- Uninspiring layouts that feel cramped or soulless
- Weak transport links that make commutes stressful or unreliable
- Lack of natural light or views that drags on mood and energy
- Basic furniture and ergonomics that create aches and minor injuries
- No real spaces for collaboration or quiet focus work
How should you judge an office beyond the price tag?
Once you see your office as a system that shapes energy and focus, rent starts to look like only one part of the bill. The next question is how the space will work on a normal Tuesday.
Walk the floor and picture a real day for your team. Where do people take calls or where can they concentrate? Where do project groups meet? Surveys show people mostly come into the office for meetings, learning and collaboration so the space must support that.
Look for a mix of settings rather than rows of identical desks. Open plan can work if it is broken up with quiet corners, small rooms and relaxed social areas.
Acoustic zoning simply means noisy activities are kept away from focused work. Natural light and fresh air are easy to feel in person. If an area feels dull or stuffy on a viewing it will be worse when full.
Create a simple checklist so you compare options on more than rent:
- Enough private and semi-private spaces for calls and deep work
- Clear spots for team sessions without disturbing others
- Informal areas that make it easy to chat and build relationships
- Reliable routes in for how your people actually commute
- Nearby amenities that make the trip to the office feel worthwhile
Commute reliability is often the quiet deal breaker. A slightly cheaper office that adds twenty hard minutes to each journey can drive people back to remote roles or to other employers.
Think about how the layout and location will feel after twelve months and not just on move-in day.
How ADAPT helps you avoid the “cheap office” trap
This article shows how a low rent can hide real costs in burnout, sick days and churn-especially when design and location are an afterthought. ADAPT exists to flip that script, helping growing teams find flexible, affordable offices that actually support how people work and commute, not just what looks cheapest on paper.
Instead of starting with price per desk, ADAPT starts with your reality: how your team splits home and office, where they travel from, what kind of work they do and why they come in.
Using 20+ years of market knowledge and strong relationships with flex providers, ADAPT quickly surfaces a curated shortlist of spaces-often including hidden, off-market options-that score well on light, air, layout, meeting rooms and transport, as well as budget.
From first brief to viewings and move-in, ADAPT is a free, hands-on partner. The team sense-checks how each option will feel on a normal Tuesday, not just on a glossy tour. They also think ahead, ensuring the space can flex as headcount changes—without locking you into a costly mistake.
Over hundreds of searches, ADAPT has seen that when companies choose offices through this wider lens, attendance improves, hiring gets easier and teams stop seeing the commute as a chore. That is where the real saving sits.
Too many businesses win on rent and lose on people. Our job at ADAPT is to make sure your next office feels like an upgrade to your team’s daily life as well as your balance sheet.”
Chris Meredith, ADAPT CEO & Founder
What can you do to get ahead of the true cost of “cheap” office space?
When a lease decision approaches, it’s easy to optimise for price. But that choice influences retention, attendance, and energy long after the ink dries.
An office that looks affordable on paper can quietly drain value through higher churn, more sick days, and slower collaboration. Over time, those losses tend to outweigh the saving that justified the move.
ADAPT helps businesses sense-check office options before they commit, using real commute data, work patterns, and flexibility needs. If you’d like to explore smarter options without cost or obligation, you can start here.
