Questions
The things people ask us
Nine questions about the deal you are about to do, answered the way we would answer them on the telephone.
If you are looking for space
Do I pay Speedly anything?
0.5 month’s rent, payable on signing. We calculate it on the rent itself — the figure in the tenancy agreement, before the management fee, government rates and air-conditioning — so a space at HK$26,000 a month costs you HK$13,000, however the outgoings add up. A rent-free fitting-out period does not change it, and nor does the length of the term. Where a listing carries a “No commission” badge, you pay us nothing at all.
What will I pay every month, on top of the rent?
Management fee and government rates, which we show on every listing wherever the landlord has confirmed them — that is what the total on the card adds up. Then your own electricity, and in most buildings air conditioning outside office hours, billed by the hour. Water and the cleaning of the common parts are usually inside the management fee. Where a charge is still unconfirmed the total carries a plus sign, which means the real figure is that or higher, never lower.
What do I have to put down before I get the keys?
Most Hong Kong landlords ask for two to three months as a deposit, counted on the rent, the management fee and the rates together, plus the first month in advance. A newly formed company is sometimes asked for more, or for a director to guarantee it. Stamp duty on the lease is payable to the government and is normally shared between the two sides; the amount turns on the rent and the length of the term, and your solicitor will give you the figure. Fitting out is separate again. The number that matters is the one in the offer letter, and we will tell you what this landlord has asked for before you sign anything.
Do I get a rent-free period to fit out?
Usually, and it is negotiable. One to four months is the ordinary range — longer on a bare shell and a long term, shorter on a furnished suite you could move into next week. It is one of the few things in a Hong Kong lease that is genuinely open, which is most of what a broker is for. Ask us before you name a rent.
How long is the lease, and how do I get out of it?
Three years is the standard, often written as two years fixed with the third at your option, and a break clause at the end of the first year is common enough to ask for. Leaving earlier than that means surrendering the lease, which a landlord does not have to accept, or finding a replacement tenant they will accept. Most leases also require you to put the space back as you found it, at your cost. All of it appears in the offer letter before it appears in the lease, and we will go through that with you line by line.
The floor is 800 ft². How much of it can I actually use?
Less than 800. Hong Kong quotes gross, lettable and net, and they are three different numbers: usable space is commonly 60 to 80 per cent of a gross figure, because gross includes a share of the lift lobby, the stairs and the plant. We print the basis next to every area on this site and never convert between them — a converted figure presented as the landlord's would be us inventing their number. It is also why two listings at the same rent and the same headline size are not the same price.
Is it still available, and can I see it this week?
Every card carries the date we last checked it with the landlord or the operator, and a unit that has been let comes off the site rather than sitting there. Ask and we will arrange a viewing: some buildings want a day's notice, a few can be seen the same afternoon. Tell us which days suit you and we will work to them. See what we hold today.
If you have space to let
I have an empty floor. Will you let it, and what does it cost me?
Yes. Our fee starts at 0.5 month’s rent, calculated on the rent in the tenancy agreement rather than on the management fee and rates, and we agree it with you before we list — so there is no surprise at the end. You can also choose to cover the tenant’s half yourself: those listings carry a “No commission” badge, and they move faster because an occupier is comparing them against units that cost 0.5 month to take. We also build the software landlords collect rent with, which is a separate product: Speedly for landlords. If you have a floor standing empty, tell us about the space and we will come and see it.
How long will it take, and what do you do while it is empty?
We come and see it, usually within a few days, and nothing goes on the site until somebody from Speedly has stood in the building — the assessment a tenant reads is ours rather than yours, which is the whole reason they trust it. After that it is listed with the full monthly cost rather than the rent alone, and it reaches every occupier whose stated requirement matches it. We qualify each enquiry before it reaches you: what they need, what they can pay, when they want to move. Your details go to nobody until a viewing is arranged. We also write down what we saw — the lift wait at nine in the morning, who is already in the building, and who the floor would suit poorly — so the next tenant hears it from us rather than discovering it in month two.