Before you can budget an office move or sign a lease, you need to know how much space your business actually needs. Take too much and you pay for empty floor, take too little and you cramp your team. This guide answers how much office space you need per person, gives you a simple office space calculator in the form of a sizing table, and explains what actually drives the number, from desk ratios to hybrid working. It pairs with our office space planning service, which turns a target size into a measured layout and a delivered move.
How much office space per person?
There is no single figure, because the right allowance depends on how your teams work. As a planning guide, businesses commonly allow somewhere between a compact open-plan density and a more generous mix of desks, meeting rooms and breakout space. The legal floor is much lower than any comfortable figure: the HSE Workplace Regulations set a minimum of 11 cubic metres per person, which is a health-and-safety minimum, not a target to plan to. In practice you plan well above it, and the total you need includes far more than desks.
Office space calculator: headcount against floor area
Use the table below as a quick office space calculator. Pick the density that matches how you work, then read across to your headcount. The figures are total usable floor area per person, so they already include desks, meeting rooms, breakout, storage and circulation, not just the desk footprint.
Assumptions: compact open plan around 70 sq ft per person, standard open plan around 100 sq ft per person, and a more generous or partly cellular layout around 150 sq ft per person. These are planning ranges, not a quote, and your real figure comes from a measured survey.
| Headcount | Compact (~70 sq ft pp) | Standard (~100 sq ft pp) | Generous (~150 sq ft pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 people | ~280 sq ft | ~400 sq ft | ~600 sq ft |
| 10 people | ~700 sq ft | ~1,000 sq ft | ~1,500 sq ft |
| 25 people | ~1,750 sq ft | ~2,500 sq ft | ~3,750 sq ft |
| 40 people | ~2,800 sq ft | ~4,000 sq ft | ~6,000 sq ft |
| 60 people | ~4,200 sq ft | ~6,000 sq ft | ~9,000 sq ft |
| 100 people | ~7,000 sq ft | ~10,000 sq ft | ~15,000 sq ft |
To calculate your own figure: count the people who will use the space, choose a per-person allowance from the bands above, and multiply. Then add for anything unusual, a large server room, heavy storage, a client-facing reception or a lab, and add headroom for growth. That gives you a target range to plan and search against.
What goes into the number
The per-person figure is a blend of several things, not just a desk:
- Workstations. The desk positions themselves, sized by how you work and whether desks are shared.
- Meeting and collaboration space. Meeting rooms, huddle spaces and informal areas, which have grown as a share of the floor as work has become more collaborative.
- Breakout and amenity. Kitchen, breakout and social space that modern offices allow for.
- Storage. Filing, stationery, IT and any specialist storage your business needs.
- Reception and circulation. The front of house and the corridors and routes that connect everything, which always take more space than people expect.
Desk ratios and how hybrid working changes the number
The biggest shift in office sizing is that fewer businesses now need one desk per person. With hybrid and agile working, teams attend on different days, so you can plan on a desk-sharing ratio, providing enough desks for realistic peak occupancy rather than for everyone at once. A business where staff are in three days a week does not need a desk for every name on the payroll, and planning as if it does is the most common way to over-size and overpay. The trade-off is that shared and activity-based space needs more meeting rooms, quiet space and bookable positions, so the saving is real but it is not simply subtraction. Getting the ratio right is a core part of office space planning.
Plan for growth
Size for where the business is going, not just where it is today. A space that fits perfectly on day one is a space you outgrow before the lease is up. Build in sensible headroom for hiring, and think about whether the layout can flex, absorbing more people through a reconfiguration rather than another move, before you commit.
What about the cost of office space?
Size and cost are linked, because you rent by the square foot, so right-sizing is the single biggest lever on what you pay. The average cost of office space in London varies widely by area, building and lease terms, and it moves too often to pin to a fixed figure here. The practical point is this: work out the space you genuinely need first, then you are negotiating rent on the right amount of floor rather than paying for empty space you were talked into. If you want a fuller view of moving budgets, see our guide to office relocation costs.
From a target size to a real plan
A sizing estimate gets you searching in the right bracket. Turning it into a workspace that actually fits your teams takes a measured survey and a layout, which is what our office space planning and move planning service does: headcount modelling, a measured survey, a layout tested against your working model, and then the move that delivers it. If you are weighing up how much space to take, or how to fit into a space you have chosen, book a space planning consultation and we will work it through with you. Book a space planning consultation.
How much office space per person: frequently asked questions
How much office space do I need for 25 people?
Using the bands above, roughly 1,750 sq ft at a compact density, around 2,500 sq ft at a standard density, and up to about 3,750 sq ft for a more generous layout. Your exact figure depends on desk ratios, meeting-space needs and growth plans, and is confirmed by a survey.
How much office space do I need for 40 people?
Around 2,800 sq ft compact, 4,000 sq ft standard, and up to about 6,000 sq ft generous, on the same assumptions. Hybrid working and desk-sharing can bring the desk count, and so the total, down.
How many square metres per person is normal?
The compact-to-generous bands above equate to roughly 6.5 to 14 square metres per person of total usable space. The HSE legal minimum is 11 cubic metres of volume per person, which is a floor, not a planning target.
Does hybrid working reduce the space we need?
Usually yes, because you can plan desks on a sharing ratio rather than one per person. It also shifts some of that space into meeting and collaboration areas, so it is a rebalancing as much as a reduction.
How do I calculate my office space accurately?
Start with the table for a target range, then have a measured survey confirm it against your teams, your working model and the specific building. That is what turns an estimate into a plan you can lease and move against.
