Every office agreement has a lock-in clause — traditional lease or managed office. Almost nobody reads it properly before signing, and almost nobody asks the follow-up questions that actually matter.

The basic version

Lock-in period is the minimum time you're committed to paying, regardless of whether you stay or leave. A three-year lease with a two-year lock-in means you can't walk away before year two without a financial penalty — even if your team shrinks, funding falls through, or you find better space.

What breaking it actually costs you

  • Forfeiture of your security deposit — often the biggest hit
  • In many agreements, an additional penalty: sometimes the remaining lock-in rent, sometimes a flat multiple of monthly rent
  • Some leases require you to find a replacement tenant yourself before you're released

Where it gets more interesting

In a traditional lease, lock-in is close to binary: you're in, or you're paying to get out. In a managed office agreement, the lock-in clause is usually more flexible on paper — but the flexibility is often narrower than it sounds, unless you ask specifically.

"Is the lock-in flexible if we need to scale up or down within your other locations?" Many managed office providers will let you move between their properties without triggering a fresh lock-in or penalty — but this is rarely written into the standard agreement. It has to be asked for and added.

Three more worth asking before you sign:

  • Is the lock-in per seat or per agreement? Some managed office contracts lock in the total seat count you signed for, not each individual seat — which matters a lot if you're planning to downsize before upsizing again.
  • What happens to the lock-in if we're acquired, or the entity changes? Worth clarifying before it becomes a live problem, not after.
  • Is the lock-in negotiable against a longer notice period instead of a penalty? Landlords and providers alike will sometimes trade a shorter financial lock-in for a longer exit notice window — the same protection for them, more flexibility for you.

The one thing that's consistent

Lock-in terms are negotiable before you sign, almost never after. A shorter lock-in is a completely reasonable ask for an early-stage company, especially in exchange for a slightly higher deposit or rent. Landlords and providers both say yes to this more often than founders expect — they'd rather negotiate a shorter lock-in than take on default risk from an unproven company two years out.

Don't just ask "what's the lock-in." Ask what it actually locks you into, and what it would take to make it move with you instead of against you.