Downloading the Truth: A Connectivity Audit for UK Office Tenants

The promise and the measurement

Almost every UK office particulars document mentions connectivity. The phrase is usually "high-speed broadband available", occasionally "fibre-ready", and only rarely a specific speed, provider or installation date. For a small business, that ambiguity is not a minor detail. It sits behind every cloud application, video call, card payment and client presentation the team will depend on.

The difficulty is timing. Connectivity is often investigated after heads of terms are agreed, when the tenant is focused on rent, break clauses and fit-out. By then, the landlord's incentive to solve a problem has weakened. A disciplined audit before signature is therefore less about technology enthusiasm than about commercial risk.

Start with the address, not the agent's assurance

Begin with the building's actual postal address and, if possible, its Unique Property Reference Number. Use the Ofcom broadband coverage checker for a broad picture, then the Openreach and alternative network operators' postcode tools for a more specific view. These tools indicate what is available or planned, but they do not confirm what is installed in the suite, what the landlord permits, or what the building's internal cabling can support.

Ask the landlord or letting agent for three things in writing: the current provider and service at the building, any existing fibre or Ethernet cabling serving the demised premises, and the name of the building's facilities contact. A vague answer at this stage is useful information in itself.

Test what is actually there

If the suite is occupied, ask to run speed tests on the existing connection during a viewing. Test at several times: shortly after 9am, around midday, mid-afternoon and early evening. Record download and upload speeds, latency and packet loss, not merely the headline download figure. Upload capacity and latency matter disproportionately for cloud telephony, video conferencing and remote desktop work.

Distinguish between a wired test at the router and a Wi-Fi test at the desks. Wi-Fi performance in an empty office can be misleading; once partitions, meeting-room walls and thirty laptops are added, coverage changes. If the space is empty, ask whether a temporary line can be installed or whether the previous tenant's service remains active for testing.

Establish who can genuinely serve the building

A common assumption is that because one provider advertises in the area, the building is connected. In practice, a building may be served by a single infrastructure operator, with retail providers merely reselling that connection. Check whether full-fibre, leased-line Ethernet and business-grade cable services are each available, and ask each prospective provider to confirm availability against the exact address rather than the postcode.

Where only a shared consumer-grade connection exists, the practical question is whether the landlord will permit a new dedicated circuit. That depends on physical routes into the building and on the landlord's cabling rules.

Wayleaves, cabling and landlord consent

A wayleave is the legal permission that allows an operator to install and maintain apparatus on or through land or property. For an office tenant, the relevant issues are usually the building entry point, riser access, cable routes and the landlord's approval process. Some leases require the tenant to obtain consent before any alteration to the premises, and cabling can count as an alteration.

Ask the landlord, before exchange, to confirm its position on new cabling, riser access, roof or basement equipment, and the timescale for approving an operator's survey. Check whether any existing wayleave restricts the operators who may use the building's ducts. If a new wayleave is required from a third-party landowner, establish who is responsible for obtaining it and what happens if consent is delayed beyond the lease start date.

Shared lines and dedicated circuits

A shared business broadband service is usually adequate for a small team whose work is cloud-based and not latency-sensitive. Indicative costs in 2026 run from roughly £30 to £70 per month for a business-grade shared line, depending on speed and contract length.

A dedicated leased line provides uncontended, symmetric bandwidth and a service-level agreement, but costs more. Budget approximately £250 to £700 per month for 100Mbps to 1Gbps, with installation often between £1,000 and £5,000 depending on distance, survey findings and building access. These are planning figures, not quotations; the actual price depends on the operator's survey and the building's existing infrastructure.

A dedicated circuit can take several weeks to install, and longer where a new wayleave or building works are needed. A six-week lead time is not unusual; three months is possible. That period should be planned into the lease commencement, not discovered after it.

Mobile coverage, room by room

The Ofcom mobile checker is a useful starting point, but it models outdoor coverage. Indoor signal depends on construction, glazing, basement depth and the density of occupied rooms. Test each network with a handset on the actual premises: at desks, in meeting rooms, in the lift lobby, in stairwells and in any basement or server space. Note whether calls connect, whether data remains usable and whether signal drops when the building is busy.

If coverage is poor, do not assume a signal booster is a simple fix. In the UK, mobile repeaters must meet licensing requirements and are often installed only with operator agreement. A distributed antenna system is a building-level project, not a tenant's quick purchase. This is a landlord conversation, and it belongs before signature.

Converting findings into lease terms

Connectivity deficiencies should be reflected in the commercial terms rather than left as a post-completion complaint. Where a dedicated line is required, seek a rent-free period or capital contribution equivalent to the installation cost and the first year's service. Where the landlord controls cabling consent, ask for a condition precedent or an agreed programme for approval, with early access before the term begins for survey and installation.

Consider a service-condition clause requiring the landlord to maintain building infrastructure that it controls, and a right to install tenant equipment subject to consent not being unreasonably withheld. Confirm how any additional service charge for connectivity infrastructure will be apportioned. Record the pre-existing state of the building's cabling in the schedule of condition so that dilapidations arguments do not arise at exit.

A lease is a long commitment to a physical space; connectivity is the part of that space a small team feels every hour. Auditing it properly turns a marketing phrase into a measured fact, and a measured fact into a negotiating position.