Owning versus Leasing Corporate Real Estate: A study of Swedish municipalities

Sammanfattning: Every choice between owning and leasing corporate real estate is unique. Therefore every single case needs to be analyzed very thoroughly. The analysis can be in the form of a cash flow analysis and must be done on both cases: to own and to lease. Factors other than the purely financial ones must also be considered. The way the lease contract is written is very central to the choice between owning and leasing. Almost everything can be regulated in the lease contract. Another factor that has great impact on the decision between owning and leasing is the way one looks on risk vs. return. The result of the cash flow analysis is very dependent on the risk, so it’s obvious that the discount rate has an important role in the decision making. It is the author’s strong belief that the trend is to lease more and own less. This is applicable for private enterprises. Regarding Swedish municipalities it seems to be the other way around. The majority of the municipalities don’t have any plans on selling their real estate. The difference between owning and leasing can be very vague because lease contracts can be written in so many different ways. Therefore there is almost never a clear answer which is best, owning or leasing. My ambition with this text has never been to find a right or wrong, but to analyze the different aspects of leasing and owning real estate.