Esop: 76% of small and medium companies are looking for offices under EUR 11/sq. m

The research shows that compared to 2012 the share of those looking for offices at rents under EUR 11/ sq. m/ month has decreased with two points, while the share of those looking offices at EUR 11.1-EUR 15 / sq. m/ month has increased with 2 point compared to 2012.

„The office request segment with budgets between EUR 11.1 and EUR 15 /sq. m /month was the only one to grow in 2013, following five years of continuous growing only of the small budget requests, of less than EUR 11/sq. m / month. Therefore, in 2013, 2% of the total request have migrated from the segment of less than EUR 11 /sq. m/month to  the middle segment, between EUR 11.1 and EUR 15/sq. m/month”, Esop’s officials mentioned.

The share of those looking for offices under EUR 11 /sq. m / month, even in slight decrease compared to 2012, is much more than in 2009, when the share was only 48%. In 20009, 30% of the request had budgets between EUR 11.1 and EUR 15 and 22% of over EUR 15.

As the crises got bigger,  the share of the small budgets also increased. Therefore, in 2007-2008, when the office rents were much higher than nowadays, most of the request had budgets over EUR 15 / sq. m/month (more than 50% in 2008), while the budget under EUR11 were covering the smallest share of the requests (18% in 2008). As the rents adjusted and the share of the budgets under EUR 11 has increased, the number of those willing to pay over EUR 15 /sq. m/ month has decreased.

„From our experience the medium companies with 30 to 100 employees, assign between 5 and 8% of the turnover for rent, therefore in the period between 2008 and 2012 most of them were obliged to adapt to the new economic conditions and adjust their expenses. In 2013, within our companies we had several relocation requests towards better spaces, with an image plus or better situation, with average budgets of over EUR 11 /sq. m / month, but up to EUR 15/ sq. m/month and we estimate this middle segment will also slightly recover in the next two years”, declared Alexandru Petrescu, managing partner of Esop.

In 2013, the requests of the medium companies analyzed by Esop Consulting were mainly addressing business centres (64%), the rest of 36% looking for office villas.

Most of the medium potential tenants expressing their relocation intention have opted for office spaces situated in central areas in Bucharest: Victoriei Sq., Aviatorilor, Dorobanti, Domenii, Unirii, Universitate, Cotroceni, Grozavesti, Aviatiei and have preferred the quality spaces within office buildings, with an average rent of EUR 9-12/sq. m / month, parking places and the proximity to the metro stations, has added Alexandru Petrescu. (source: wall-street.ro)