Desk Cost Calculator
Work out what each desk in an estate agency costs once premises, rates, utilities, technology and software are divided by headcount.
💼 Are you a real estate agent or broker? Send this calculator to your buyers on your own branded listing page — every enquiry comes straight to your WhatsApp. Create free agent page →Agency overheads are usually reviewed as a single annual figure, which makes them hard to act on. Dividing them by headcount turns them into a cost per desk, and that is the number to set against what each person actually produces.
It also makes hiring decisions concrete. Adding a negotiator costs their salary plus a desk, and the second figure is frequently a third of the first.
The calculation
Add every shared premises and technology cost, divide by the number of desks, then add the software and licences attributable to each person. The result is what one seat costs before any salary.
Worked example
Rent of 36,000, a 9,000 service charge, 12,000 of rates, 4,000 of utilities and 6,000 of shared technology is 67,000 across eight desks — 8,375 each. Adding 1,200 of per-head software brings the desk cost to 9,575 a year, or about 798 a month, and the total overhead to 76,600.
Use it in hiring decisions
A new negotiator costs their package plus a desk. On these figures that is nearly 10,000 before salary, which is the number that should sit alongside the deals they are expected to bring — not the salary alone.
Turn a calculation into an enquiry
Buyers who run these numbers are ready to talk. Give every listing its own page with your photo, phone and WhatsApp on it — leads land straight on your phone.
Create your free property pageFrequently asked questions
Should empty desks be counted?
Divide by desks you are actually paying for, not by people. An office of eight desks with five people has a higher real cost per person, and seeing that is usually the point of the exercise.
Does this include salaries?
No, deliberately. Desk cost is the overhead of having somebody in the office, and keeping it separate from salary makes it possible to compare remote, hybrid and office-based arrangements honestly.
How does this help with a smaller office?
It quantifies what downsizing or hybrid working would actually save. Halving the desks does not halve the rent unless the lease allows it, so the comparison has to be against a real alternative premises cost.