Advice on Unit Size & Price please?

[Mike Fear]

Depends entirely on how much money you make and if the cost of the unit justifies it, the location, if you need passing trade etc…

Around me industrial units tend to go from £6 – £12 per square foot, but it is a very expensive area for commercial property.

My ‘unit’ costs me £0 per year, is big enough for what I need and is conveniently situated 5 seconds walk away from my front door 😉

[Phill Fenton]

Around here prices are about £6 a sq ft for a modern industrial unit. We can expect to pay about £1200 a year (+ Rates and VAT) for a 2,000sq ft unit – so in comparison you’re price looks good.

[David McDonald]

Yes Phill that what I was thinking.

It’ll take 4 months to build which coincides nicely with the 6 months we’ve got left on the last place and the best bit is that we can specify the internal layout of office size, print/vinyl area, workshop etc. The downside is they want a 9-year term but the unit could easily have a mezzanine added for further expansion. Mind you if the annual rent is fixed as per my last unit then £12k for the year by the 9th year will be even better.

Cheers
Macky

[Craig Smith]

I have been looking as well, both in Glos & Notts.
Glos, £800 p.c.m will get a 2k-3k of footage. So that’s £10k p.a.
Notts, albeit w/o the roller shutter, but can get car’s, escorts etc in, i’m getting @ 7-800 sq ft for £4,250 p.a. It’s on a hugely busy road and is below my sunbed business ! So i’ll look good as well !

It’s all about location. T.b.h, i did find a "new" unit, 700 sq ft for £360 + vat in a village called Mitcheldean, but it is a "Village". Perfect size though for a starter upper like me…

Craig

[Jon Marshall]

We pay £200 p/week for 600 sq/ft in the South East.

[Nick Walker]

Macky

That looks good value to me.

We pay £1300 rent and £600+ Bus Rates per month on 1800sq ft near Gatwick.
The rent I can cope with, the rates are a disgrace and appear to be designed to put small businesses in the sh1t before they start (hot)

Rant over. Soz. 😳

Cheers. Nick.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Nick Walker:

Macky

That looks good value to me.

We pay £1300 rent and £600+ Bus Rates per month on 1800sq ft near Gatwick.
The rent I can cope with, the rates are a disgrace and appear to be designed to put small businesses in the sh1t before they start (hot)

Rant over. Soz. 😳

Cheers. Nick.

it makes me wonder just how some businesses ever do get going, i reckon in the three years i’ve been going, i’ve seen about a dozen of my ‘new business’ customers disappear. i’l be honest, if it wasn’t for my mrs working, i’d not be earning enough to live most of the time. it’s steadily getting busier, and i know a unit will bring more work if the location is good, but a good location cost big money down here!

[Dave Bruce]

Blimey 😮 I am paying more than the Gatwick prices in a small west coast town with no good industrial units.

Time to move.

Dave

[John Childs]

quote DaveBruce:

Blimey 😮 I am paying more than the Gatwick prices in a small west coast town with no good industrial units.

Time to move.

Yeah, move down here Dave.

I’ll retire and you can rent mine. 😀

[Martin Cole]

quote Phill:

We can expect to pay about £1200 a year (+ Rates and VAT) for a 2,000sq ft unit

Blimey Phil, that’s good I’m moving up your way…
don’t upset me and tell me you’ve missed a zero out somewhere 😀

Macky doesn’t sound bad, just 9 years is a long time handing over rent, wouldn’t you consider buying a place if the business is sound and growing which it sounds like yours is 😕

I want to be looking at buying somewhere when my lease is up in a couple of years, BTW I pay £5 psqf on a small ind est with not much passing trade, I think if your reasonably established location isn’t the be all and end all.

[David McDonald]

Hi Martin

Would love to buy but can’t due to the absolute brilliance of my ex-wife’s divorce lawyer!!! (BUT don’t get me started on that).

I’m going to go back and see about reducing the 9-years to 5 or 6-years if possible – If i think back to what I was doing 9-years ago I didn’t even have the slightest idea that (a) I’d be in signs and graphics (b) I’d have my own business. To be honest I could have said the latter up until about 3-years back. Who knows what in 9-years. Oil will have run out so no vinyl/plastics and we’ll all be hand painting wooden signs and taking them to site on our Mercedes Trotter 2 horse power cart (pulled by two horses)

Macky

[Martin Cole]

quote Macky D:

Hi Martin

Would love to buy but can’t due to the absolute brilliance of my ex-wife’s divorce lawyer!!! (BUT don’t get me started on that).

I’m going to go back and see about reducing the 9-years to 5 or 6-years if possible – If i think back to what I was doing 9-years ago I didn’t even have the slightest idea that (a) I’d be in signs and graphics (b) I’d have my own business. To be honest I could have said the latter up until about 3-years back. Who knows what in 9-years. Oil will have run out so no vinyl/plastics and we’ll all be hand painting wooden signs and taking them to site on our Mercedes Trotter 2 horse power cart (pulled by two horses)

Macky

oop’s 🙁 sorry to hear about the buying situation Macky.

9 years time…long way off be interesting to see how the market stands then. oh to have a brief glimpse into that crystal ball.

M

[Harry Cleary]

quote Macky D:

we’ll all be hand painting wooden signs and taking them to site on our Mercedes Trotter 2 horse power cart (pulled by two horses)

Macky

Cool!!! So I’ll keep the brushes then??? 😀

[Phill Fenton]

quote Martin Cole:

quote Phill:

We can expect to pay about £1200 a year (+ Rates and VAT) for a 2,000sq ft unit

Blimey Phil, that’s good I’m moving up your way…
don’t upset me and tell me you’ve missed a zero out somewhere 😀

oops – that should have read £12,000 a year for 2,000 sq ft.

[Martin Cole]

quote Phill:

quote Martin Cole:

quote Phill:

We can expect to pay about £1200 a year (+ Rates and VAT) for a 2,000sq ft unit

Blimey Phil, that’s good I’m moving up your way…
don’t upset me and tell me you’ve missed a zero out somewhere 😀

oops – that should have read £12,000 a year for 2,000 sq ft.

Damm

I’ve just just booked some one way tickets to Scotland Phill ready to set up business.
I’ll see if I can ebay em now 😀

[Jon Marshall]

Does anyone know how the small business rate relief works? We’re looking at a 1200sq ft that is about £3200 a year rates but I hear you can get 50% rate relief if you’re a small business?

[Karl Williams]

There yer go that’s how it works.

[Kevin Flowers]

Hi
depends on the rateable value of the property. At a rateable value of £5000 you get the full 50% entitlement, you then loose 1% for every £100 that the rateable value is over the £5000. So with a rateable of £6000 you would get 40% relief etc.

Kev

[Jon Marshall]

Another question on this; what is the usual cost for solicitors when it comes to going over the lease agreement? One we spoke to said 6 hours at £200/hr!

[Lorraine Clinch]

quote jonm01:

Does anyone know how the small business rate relief works? We’re looking at a 1200sq ft that is about £3200 a year rates but I hear you can get 50% rate relief if you’re a small business?

Only if you have just one business. If you have 2, you don’t get relief on either.
I was getting relief of around £300 py, when we took on the pub, (me as partner, not sole) we started paying rates of £7000/yr and got a bill for the rest of my signmakers rates.

I really don’t understand how that works 👿

[Nick Monir]

Is it not something to do with the total rateable value of all properties? It has been a while since I looked into it but I seem to recall something about if the total rateable value is less than £10k you can still claim relief. Might be wrong 😕

[Martin Pearson]

Mine were about the same as Phill’s about £6 a sqft with rates on top and then a service charge to the landlord for keeping the estate up to scratch. It was the cost of electric that really got me because you had to buy through the Landlord and couldn’t source your own supplier which made the electric a lot more than it could have been.
I take it it will be a full repairing lease so at least with a new built unit you shouldn’t have to much to pay out in repairs to begin with.
If you get a say in the layout for offices, work space etc could you also have some sort of say in what type/height door you have to ensure you can get high top vehicles in?

[Lloyd]

I have managed to bag my place for £80 per week, just outside Heathrow, its a small industrial estate and the owner includes the rates on the premises along with electric. Its 750 sqft, He said if you dont have toilets in your premises the rates are much cheaper and he can afford to include them. Of course I have all this in writing with the contract and I move in next month. Think its a lucky find though.

[Jon Marshall]

quote jonm01:

Another question on this; what is the usual cost for solicitors when it comes to going over the lease agreement? One we spoke to said 6 hours at £200/hr!

Can anyone answer this?

[Martin Pearson]

Think it’s a difficult question to answer as there are a lot of differences to take into account as well as location.

If it’s any help when I moved into a unit about 6 years ago it cost me just over £1000 in Solicitors fees but the Shop I started in about 7 years ago I think it cost me more than twice that.

Lloyd I would say that you have a very lucky find there at £80 per week including rates. 750 sq ft might be a little on the small side depending on what sort of work you are doing but at that sort of price I would have taken it anyway just like you have done.

[Lloyd]

Thanks Martin.. you are right it is a little on the small side, but at the minute I am working from an 8ft x 6ft shed and thought the progression has to be worth it, as long as I can get a nice big bench then I am happy.

fees vary so much depending on so many factors and how much leg work you can do yourself, from experience in companies I have worked for shops do tend to be more money than units to set up. Just look at the costing and you will be able to tell if you think you are being ripped off.