Included within the lease agreement, there may be basic services included such as water, electricity and perhaps cleaning, reception and building maintenance. Each organisation should establish at the outset how such costs will be shared.

Option 1 – lead organisation

The lease –provided by the lead organisation - will cover the space being rented and may also include some services such as water and electricity. Additional services such as shared reception and meeting rooms may have to be covered in a separate service contract.

If the lead organisation is a charity, it will seek to recover from its tenants the cost of any services it pays for, including rent, to the owner/landlord of the property. This is because as a charity it must apply its resources to its charitable purposes i.e. it should use its resources according to the objectives stated in its governing document or constitution. The charity will seek to recharge from its tenants any resources expended in providing the accommodation that fall outside the remit of its own charitable objects, even if its tenant is another charity.

Option 2 – joint ownership

While each organisation will own a share of the property there may only be one bill for rates, water rates and other utilities etc. In this arrangement one organisation may pay the bill in full and then seek reimbursement from the other partnering organisations. It would be practical also to share the cost for other services such as cleaning and it may be necessary to make arrangements for each organisation to pay directly for the service they use.

Option 3 – separate company

The property company will establish leases for all its tenants, including the partnering organisations that actually own the property company. In addition, it will need to recover the costs of rates and other services that may be covered in the lease. If the tenants require fully serviced offices, then this can be covered in an all-inclusive rental agreement or it can be packaged as a basic rental agreement with additional services as required. As a viable business, the directors or trustees of the property company are responsible for ensuring that it covers its costs, including the costs of any borrowing e.g. loans etc.