When ESG obligations, fit-out costs and service charge disputes are live issues in landlord negotiations, how do occupiers secure terms that reflect the leverage they have?
The Landlord Relationship, hosted by Liam Graham of Cellnex, examined how occupiers negotiate those terms. The Tribe covered workplace experience and ESG, fit-out investment, service charges and the balance of responsibility between landlord and tenant.
Tribe Host: Liam Graham
Co-Hosts: Sonya Simmonds (ByteDance), Jemma Wylde (Reckitt), Jason Peckmore (Shell), Louisa Kidson (Travers Smith) and Martin Silvester (A&O Shearman)
Scribes: Ismah Khan
Landlord Relationships Start Before Occupation
Moving from a self-managed building to a multi-tenant property opens a gap between expectations and delivery, because security, engineering and common areas that the occupier once controlled now sit with the landlord. Many of the Tribe advised engaging the landlord and managing agent before signing, setting out expectations for service delivery, communication and escalation, and clarifying who is responsible for each building service.
Many of the Tribe felt workplace, facilities, IT, finance, sustainability and legal teams should be involved early, and that negotiations work best when they are collaborative and identify benefits for both parties. Regular communication should continue after occupation, since negotiation is not a one-off exercise.
A recurring concern was the gap between what landlords promise and what they deliver, including cases where agreed data or service information had still not been provided months after occupation. Many of the Tribe wanted performance standards written into agreements: SLAs and KPIs, clear response and resolution times, defined escalation routes, transparent compliance and building-performance reporting, agreed data-sharing responsibilities and clear documentation of technical specifications and building capacity.
The Tribe largely agreed that expectations should be measurable, documented and monitored, and agreed as early as possible in the relevant contracts or service agreements.
Service Charges Must Demonstrate Value for Money
Service charge transparency was one of the strongest themes. Many of the Tribe raised concerns about unclear costs, limited supporting information, services tenants may not need and difficulty obtaining service charge records.
Good practice, as the Tribe discussed it, includes requesting detailed, auditable breakdowns, understanding exactly which services are being purchased, checking that costs are reasonable and competitively priced, and challenging duplicated, unnecessary or unsuitable services. Tenants can negotiate which services are removed, replaced or managed independently, review how costs are allocated between tenants, and monitor service quality against the amount being paid.
Charges also need to be affordable and proportionate: a premium service may benefit one tenant but be unnecessary or too expensive for others in a multi-tenant building. The Tribe largely agreed that service charges should be managed actively as a commercial issue rather than accepted as an unavoidable cost.
Sustainability and Building Data Require Cooperation
Sustainability is closely linked to landlord relationships, building operations and service charge management. Many of the Tribe described difficulty obtaining energy consumption data, accessing building management system (BMS) information, verifying emissions and making sure building energy arrangements align with corporate sustainability targets.
The practical steps discussed were agreeing access to building performance and energy data, clarifying how consumption and emissions are measured and allocated, exploring green lease provisions and shared sustainability objectives, and understanding whether the landlord’s energy procurement supports the tenant’s strategy. Data requests need to be practical, secure and proportionate.
There is a tension on both sides. Tenants need building data for their own reporting, and landlords may struggle to obtain consumption data from tenants, so better cooperation benefits everyone. Many of the Tribe saw sustainability performance as depending on transparency, reliable data and shared responsibility between landlords and occupiers.
Define Non-Negotiables and Do the Due Diligence Early
Many of the Tribe believed clear requirements need to be established before committing to a lease. Non-negotiables may include sufficient electrical power and connectivity, reliable lifts, heating, ventilation and cooling, adequate meeting rooms and occupancy capacity, appropriate daylight and acoustics, resilience including backup power where the business is critical, suitable amenities, food provision and transport links, and flexibility for future growth and changing working patterns.
Many of the Tribe highlighted the risk of inheriting a building, or taking space designed for another organisation, that looks attractive but fails to meet the operational needs of its future occupiers.
It was suggested that workplace planning should cover the whole property lifecycle, from search and due diligence through design, occupation and operation. That means involving technical specialists before committing, validating the landlord’s claims about occupancy, power, ventilation and building performance, identifying defects while they can still be addressed through warranties or contractual remedies, and documenting lessons learned after occupation.
Late changes are expensive and disruptive, and the examples discussed included insufficient power capacity, poorly performing ventilation, acoustic issues and changes to the location of critical infrastructure.
Portfolio Strategy Must Reflect Business Needs and Talent
There is no universal portfolio model. Requirements depend on size, growth plans, culture and operating model. Some organisations cluster offices into hubs to improve collaboration and provide consistent amenities. Global portfolios need flexibility because expectations vary across countries, cultures and business functions.
Many of the Tribe felt decisions should weigh future growth, lease length, location, operating costs and the possibility of downsizing or expanding. Serviced offices and flexible workspace can help when growth is uncertain or a permanent office is not yet the right answer.
Many also felt property strategy should support talent strategy, because expectations vary by sector, job type and location. Some legal firms retain traditional expectations around private offices, windows and room sizes, while other organisations favour shared workspace and flexibility.
Specialist technical employees, client-facing teams, executives and high-turnover operational teams do not necessarily share the same needs. Proximity to talent pools and industry clusters, public transport, local amenities and regional working practices all matter, alongside retention, recruitment and the balance between flexibility and operational efficiency.
Workplace Design and Experience: Get the Basics Right First
Many of the Tribe challenged the idea that every organisation should follow the same workplace model. Assigned desks can support routine, consistency and team cohesion where people attend often. Shared or bookable desks improve utilisation for hybrid teams and employees who travel. Allocated offices may remain important in certain professional services environments, for client confidentiality, seniority or talent attraction, and flexible, collaborative spaces can suit creative teams and businesses whose work changes frequently.
Local culture, hierarchy, business activity and talent expectations may require different standards by region. Attendance patterns have also changed since COVID-19, so many of the Tribe felt organisations should reassess space requirements instead of assuming historical occupancy will return.
Comparisons with hospitality, where people expect convenience, personal attention and reliable service, shaped the discussion of experience. The priorities set out were to make the building work first, with reliable lifts, ventilation, power and connectivity, then to deliver consistent service through responsive building teams and good communication, and finally to improve the experience with welcoming reception staff, convenient food and a sense of community.
Gyms, cafes, restaurants and childcare can help attract talent, but their value depends on location, affordability and employee demand. Partnerships with nearby businesses can sometimes offer better value than putting every amenity inside the building.
Biggest Opportunity: Treating the Landlord Relationship as a Partnership
Many of the Tribe believed occupiers can get more from landlords by engaging early and negotiating on mutual benefit. The practical actions suggested for property and workplace teams were to create a property requirements checklist covering location, capacity, technical infrastructure, amenities, resilience, sustainability and future growth, and to set up a landlord engagement plan with key contacts and agreed communication and escalation routes for both the landlord and the managing agent.
Lease and service agreements can be strengthened with performance standards, building specifications, data access provisions, service responsibilities and sustainability requirements. Teams can also audit service charges, review attendance, collaboration, recruitment, retention and regional needs before deciding desk ratios or layouts, and agree how energy, emissions and building performance data will be shared, measured and reported.
Biggest Challenge: The Gap Between What Landlords Promise and What Buildings Deliver
Buildings often fail to meet operational requirements, landlord service levels fall short of expectations, and managing agent and landlord commitments become disconnected from each other. The responses discussed were early technical due diligence with documented minimum specifications, measurable KPIs and SLAs with escalation processes, and clear responsibilities backed by regular communication.
Market pressure adds to the difficulty, because space is sometimes secured too quickly. Many of the Tribe felt non-negotiables should therefore be defined in advance and the risks of any compromise assessed.
Future business needs are also uncertain, which points towards flexible leases, adaptable space and alternative occupancy models. Where workplace design does not reflect how employees work, workforce data, business activity and attendance patterns should guide it.
OCCUPEERS took place on 13 October 2026 at Fulham Pier, London.
Find out more about the event at space-plus.org/occupeers