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Renewing can feel like the easy call when the office is familiar and no one wants a relocation project on their hands.
But for finance and fintech tenants, staying put still needs to stack up. Your office has to support client confidence, security, shifting headcount and future flexibility, all while keeping occupancy costs under control.
Before accepting a landlord’s renewal offer, it’s worth checking whether your current lease still fits the business today.
Here are seven questions to ask before renewing your commercial office lease.
The lease you signed a few years ago may have been the right deal at the time. But markets move, incentives change, and the way your team uses the office may have shifted.
Before renewing, look at the true cost of your lease. That means reviewing your gross effective rent, incentives, outgoings, annual increases, any anticipated new fitout costs and make good obligations.
If you really want to trim operational costs, these details matter. A renewal offer can look simple on paper, but the real value is often in what sits behind the number.
Action point: Benchmark your current rent, incentives and outgoings against comparable buildings and current market conditions before accepting a renewal offer.
Market testing is useful even when you want to stay.
It helps tenants understand:
Without this insight, finance tenants are often negotiating with only half the picture.
Action point: Don’t rely only on the landlord’s renewal offer. Test the market so you know exactly what your alternatives look like and how to use them as leverage.
The way your team used the office when the lease was signed may not be the way they use it now.
You may have grown, slowed hiring, restructured teams or changed your hybrid work policies. That can quickly affect how much space you need and what type of space works best.
Action point: Compare your current lease area against actual headcount (typical ratio being 10 sqm per person), attendance patterns and future hiring plans before renewing.
Finance and fintech team structures and priorities can change quickly. Growth plans shift. Teams restructure. Funding, regulation, market conditions and workplace expectations can all affect office needs.
Your lease should give your business room to move where possible.
Flexibility may include:
Action point: Check whether your lease supports flexibility, or whether it could leave the business locked into space or terms that no longer fit.
The right office needs to support client confidence, brand perception, talent attraction and team connection. But working from a great location should still make commercial sense.
Before renewing, consider whether your current location is still helping the business or simply being carried forward because it’s familiar.
Action point: Review whether the building, arrival experience, transport access and surrounding amenity still match what your team and clients need.
This is one of the most important questions to ask.
Renewing can be the right decision. It can avoid disruption, protect team familiarity and maintain client access. But it should still be a strategic choice, not just the path of least resistance.
If you haven’t reviewed the market, benchmarked the deal or considered alternatives, it may be leaving value on the table.
Action point: Before recommending a renewal internally, make sure you can clearly explain why staying is the right commercial move.
Timing matters.
If a lease review starts too late, tenants can be left with fewer options, less negotiating power and more pressure to accept the easiest path.
For office managers and operations teams, getting ahead of key dates can make the process much easier to manage internally.
Key dates to check include:
Action point: If your lease expires or has an option date within the next 12–24 months, it’s worth starting the conversation now.
The best lease outcomes usually come from reviewing early, understanding the market and knowing what alternatives are available before committing.
For finance and fintech tenants, that means looking beyond whether the current office is “fine” and asking whether it still works commercially, operationally and culturally.
Whether you want to stay, move or simply understand your options, getting clear early can make all the difference.
Finance and fintech tenants should review rent, incentives, outgoings, gross effective rent, annual increases, make good obligations, space requirements, headcount, location, flexibility and key lease dates before renewing an office lease.
Market testing helps finance and fintech tenants understand comparable office options, current rents, available incentives and landlord competition before accepting a renewal offer. Even if the tenant wants to stay, this insight can help create stronger negotiation leverage.
Finance and fintech tenants should ideally start reviewing their office lease 12–24 months before expiry or an option deadline. Starting early gives the business more time to benchmark the market, manage internal approvals and negotiate stronger lease terms.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work. Our offices are located on the land of the Gadigal peoples of the Eora Nation and the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge their continued connection and contribution to land, water and community, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
We’re proud to be an inclusive workplace, where diversity in all its forms are valued and every member of our team is encouraged to bring their whole self to work.
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