Att äga eller hyra lokaler? En analys av lönsamhet, hållbarhet och andra påverkande faktorer

Sammanfattning: In recent years, the office market has been changing, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and technological innovation. This has impacted how office space is used and has led to an increase in the range of available real estate products. One of the decisions organizations need to make is whether to own or lease their space, which is a decision driven by several parameters. The right decision for an organization is one that can be justified with good reasons, which is important partly because the decision affects the organization economically. The purpose of the study is to investigate when it is strategically most appropriate for an organization to own or lease space. The study focuses on the office market in Sweden. In particular, the study examines how the parameter of sustainability influences the organization's choice. In doing so, the study complements and updates previous research. The thesis investigates the following two questions: • What parameters make it strategically most appropriate for an organization to own or lease office space? • How do an organization's sustainability strategies influence the choice between owning and leasing office space? The study was conducted as a qualitative case study containing a literature review and semi-structured interviews. To identify previous research on the subject and to provide a theoretical basis for the thesis, a literature review was conducted. Further, the case study involved semi-structured interviews to gain data and subsequently analyze the factors that influence organizations' decisions to own or lease office space. A total of ten organizations participated in the study. Three of the organizations were real estate consulting firms and the rest were users of office space in the private and public sectors. The participants answered a number of questions focusing on the office market and the driving forces for acquiring office space. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study are presented in a decision-making matrix. According to the matrix, the following parameters influence an organization's decision to own or lease: operation, plant and machinery, management, inflation, capital, current portfolio, property management and location. Compared to previous research that has not been limited to specific types of business premises, this study has shown that other parameters are relevant for organizations when it comes to office space. The results also show that sustainability is not a parameter that is of importance to organizations in their decision-making process. The conclusion of the study is that the decision-making matrix developed is best suited for larger organizations in the private sector.