Flexible Office vs Lease in Dublin: Contracts, Terms, Deposits and Tax (2026)

In Dublin the contract decides almost everything else: the term, the deposit, who fits out the space, and whether you need a local company to sign. This guide sets the three contract forms side by side and then covers what a company from abroad needs in place before it signs. Flexible space is quoted per desk per month; conventional leases are quoted per square foot per year. Both are before VAT at 23%.

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The three contracts

Serviced office or coworking private office

A licence agreement, not a lease, for one to twelve months, rolling after that with one to three months’ notice. One all-in monthly fee per desk covers rent, rates, service charge, utilities, internet, cleaning, reception and a meeting-room allowance; a deposit of one to two months is standard. VAT at 23% is added.

Managed office

Twelve to thirty-six months for a dedicated floor fitted and run by the operator, priced per desk or per floor per month, for teams of twenty and up.

Conventional lease

Commonly five to ten years with a tenant break at year five, on full-repairing-and-insuring terms: rent per square foot per year plus commercial rates, service charge, insurance and your own fit-out. Rent reviews are typically at year five and, since 2010, cannot be upward-only. A deposit of three to six months’ rent or a guarantee is usual, with a reinstatement obligation at the end. Stamp duty is payable by the tenant on the lease.

Side by side

Setting up as a company from abroad

• A non-Irish company can take flexible space with its registration certificate and the signatory’s ID; some operators ask for an Irish entity or a guarantee for longer managed-office terms.
• Incorporating an Irish private company limited by shares with the Companies Registration Office takes a few days online. At least one director must be resident in the EEA, or the company must hold a bond; the company needs a registered office in Ireland, which operators sell as a virtual-office product.
• No licence is required to occupy an office. Commercial rates are a local charge on the premises, inside the fee for flexible space and the tenant’s own cost under a lease.
• VAT at 23% applies to office fees and, where the landlord has opted, to rent; an Irish VAT-registered business recovers it, so compare on a VAT-inclusive basis if yours cannot.

Who pays

• Flexible space: the operator pays the introducer when a tenant signs; the tenant pays nothing and the rate is the same as going direct.
• Leases: the landlord pays its letting agent; a tenant who appoints their own adviser negotiates that fee, usually as a percentage of the first year’s rent or of the savings achieved.

SquareFoot is adding Dublin operators now; live listings for Dublin will appear on the markets page as they are collected. Guide written by SquareFoot; last reviewed October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is a flexible office in Dublin a lease?

No. It is a licence or service agreement for a fitted room with one monthly fee, usually one to twelve months and rolling after that. It gives no security of tenure and no fit-out obligation, which is the trade-off against a conventional lease.

Do I need an Irish company to rent an office in Dublin?

Not for flexible space, which a foreign company can take on a licence. A lease normally needs an Irish entity; one can be registered in days, but it needs an EEA-resident director or a bond and a registered office in Ireland.

Are Irish office rent reviews upward-only?

Not for leases signed since 2010; reviews can go down as well as up. Older leases may still carry upward-only clauses. Flexible contracts have no rent review at all, only a new price at renewal.

Related: How to find office space in Dublin · Where to put an office in Dublin · SquareFoot international markets

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