Finding premises for your association: the Complete Guide

Finding premises for your association is often a tricky business, especially when you're on a tight budget. How many square meters do you need? What type of lease should you choose? Which organization should you contact to rent premises more cheaply? These are just three of the questions we'll be answering in this comprehensive guide!

1. Defining your association's needs

Whether your association specializes in catering, sport or any other field, you'll need to define your needs precisely.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• What type of space do you need (office, meeting room, storage space, gymnasium, etc.)?
• How many seats will you need to accommodate association members?
• In which sector(s) are you looking for premises for your association, and why?

A minimum working area of 10 m² per person is recommended for both companies and associations.

2. Set a monthly budget

The second step is to set a monthly budget, so that renting the premises, whatever the cost, is feasible from a budget point of view.

It's time to draw up a financial forecast to find out whether you can rent a managed office, open-plan workstations or a private workspace dedicated to your association.

In addition to rent, you'll also need to take into account utilities, taxes, telephone charges, internet subscription... By choosing offices in a coworking space, many costs will be included in your monthly subscription, and you won't have to pay extra for utilities, Internet access or furniture.

3. Evaluate all your options

Apply to your local council

Some town halls are very generous with associations. They make premises (buildings or public work rooms) available to association managers at low cost or free of charge, to help them advance their projects.

We therefore advise you to call your local council to find out if a room is available for use by your association.

If the answer is yes, you'll need to put together a dossier to present :

• your structure ;
• the nature of your association's activities ;
• its objectives.

If your association is not-for-profit and carries out activities of general interest, it may be possible for your local council to make a workspace available to you free of charge. But this is not always possible. It can freely set the price for your use of the premises.

Leasing premises for an association

In principle, associations governed by the law of 1901 cannot sign a commercial lease unless they are registered with the Trade and Companies Registry (RCS).

There are two exceptions:

• associations whose main purpose is education;
• associations registered with the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés (RCS) that operate a business they own.

In addition to the classic commercial lease, you can also sign a professional lease or an emphyteutic lease .

Subletting your association premises

To save money and share expenses, you can sublet your association's future premises.

By subletting your offices to a company or another association, you will have access to part of its premises. You'll need to obtain written authorization from the owner of the premises, and you won't have to pay a higher rent than the owner.

Consider sharing with other associations

Another alternative: La Coloc. In this case, the owner of the premises can sign a single lease for all the associations, or separate leases with each tenant.

The only difference between subletting and sharing is who you pay your rent to at the end of the month.

If it's a company or association, you'll be subletting. If you're renting from a landlord, you'll be sharing. In both cases, you'll reduce your expenses and be able to interact with other association managers.

Our advice: draw up a co-location agreement with the other association(s). This document describes how the colocation works and clarifies the commitments of each party.

4. Finding premises for your association

There are several ways to find premises for your association. You can contact your local council (as explained above) or look in the classified ads for suitable premises. Another option is to rely on word-of-mouth by contacting your professional network.

The quickest way to find a turnkey office for your future association is with workin.space. Our experts will suggest offices to suit your specifications, in your search area.

5. Meeting management obligations

ERP standards (establishments open to the public)

Whether they are tenants or owners, association managers are considered to be the operators of their ERP. As such, they are responsible for the safety of the establishment's users and staff.

Whether access to your association is paid or free, unrestricted, restricted or by invitation, you must comply with the safety regulations of an establishment open to the public (ERP). So you'll need to make the necessary adjustments before moving on to the next stage: your installation.

Council tax

All associations are required to pay taxe d'habitation, with the exception of :

• associations freely accessible to the public (e.g. auditoriums, association showrooms, museums, etc.);
• a public religious building and its outbuildings;
• competition halls, changing rooms and hygiene facilities for sports associations.

For further information, see BOI-IF-TH-10-10-20. It covers the scope of taxable premises.

Insurance for associations

You'll need to take out professional liability insurance to cover damage caused to or suffered by your association's employees, volunteers, members and managers. You'll also need to insure your association's Lea premises against fire, water damage and explosion.

Home insurance to protect your association's premises is compulsory for tenants, and optional (though strongly recommended) for owners. This is despite the abolition of the taxe d'habitation on the principal residence of households on January 1, 2023.

If your association's Le Local is also your or a member's personal home, you'll need to notify your insurer.

6. Moving into your association's premises

Finding premises for your association isn't something you can do in a day. But by this stage, you should have found the one you're looking for.

To make you feel at home, we recommend that you install all the equipment you need to work for the cause that's close to your heart. For example, if you're opening a shelter for abandoned animals, you'll need to install the right-sized stalls, an office to welcome the public and buy food for dogs and cats.

Once you've got everything set up, it's time to organize the inauguration of your association's premises. At this event, you'll be able to promote yourself locally and share your new address with others. Don't hesitate to hand out business cards at this event, so that you can be contacted easily in the future.

Finding premises for your association: the recap

There are 6 easy steps to finding premises for your association:

1. define your association's needs (number of square meters, number of people to be accommodated, how the premises will function);
2. set your annual budget;
3. evaluate all your options;
4. find premises for your association;
5. respect management obligations;
6. setting up your association premises.

We hope this guide will help you find the perfect place to carry out your projects.

And if you need help finding the ideal premises, we can help.