What on earth is a space budget?

If you’ve ever wondered how organisations figure out how much office space they actually need, the answer usually starts with a space budget.

A space budget is an indicative space-planning tool. In plain English, it’s a simple way to work out how much space an organisation needs - and what that space should be made up of - before you start designing, signing leases or spending any money on a fit-out.

It’s the bridge between a strategic vision (“We want to work flexibly and collaboratively”) and a robust plan (“We need 5,000 m², 600 desks, 80 collaboration seats, 25 meeting rooms, etc.”).

A good space budget considers:

• How your people work – e.g. hybrid patterns, focus vs collaboration needs.

• What roles and teams you have – different functions use space differently.

• Your desired experience – culture, flexibility and how you want the office to feel.

The output can be created in two ways:

Building-agnostic	Building-specific
"This is how much space you need, wherever you go"	"Here’s how your needs fit into this particular building"

Either way, it gives you a clear, data-led baseline to make confident decisions before you’re locked into a lease or design concept.

Why it matters

Get your space budget wrong, and things go sideways fast:

• Too much space? You’re paying rent and running costs for settings and spaces that sit empty most of the week.

• Too little? You’ll irritate your staff, kill productivity, and spend months or even years - and unnecessary pounds - trying to fix it.

A solid space budget finds the sweet spot - enough room for your people to do their best work, without wasting money on square metres you don’t need.

It also helps align everyone involved:

• Leadership gets a realistic picture of costs and growth capacity.

• Facilities teams get a blueprint to manage occupancy and efficiency.

• Designers get a clear brief, so they’re not working off assumptions or averages.

In short, a space budget turns a vague idea of “What we think we need” into a clear, evidence-based strategy for how much space you need, what kind of spaces you need, and why.

Because when you’re investing in a large amount of workplace, guessing isn’t good enough.