Moving house is highly stressful as most people will know from personal experience. But the stakes are far higher if you are working for a charity on limited resources and do not know where to seek affordable help.

More charities are having to face the fact that local authorities, which used to provide low-cost premises, are now determined to realise the full market rent. Many voluntary sector organisations are finding that they cannot afford the rents demanded on the office space they occupy. As a result, they are having to look elsewhere.

Whether the charity's landlord is the local authority or in the commercial sector, the realisation that the lease is up for renewal can bring with it anxiety and upheaval.

The potential pitfalls are many; they can also be costly. Annette McGill, director of Upkeep, which runs the Charities Facilities Management Group, says: "Charities such as Save the Children or Oxfam are of a size where they will have facilities managers, surveyors and lawyers on their staff. For small charities needing to move offices, you will usually have people who are learning about this stuff as they go along, and that is not their main job.

"Suddenly they have to take responsibility for negotiating complex leases which could commit their organisation to significant sums. It's a stressful time. And when an organisation has only a few people, who are not expert in the field, mistakes can easily be made. I'd say to anyone in this situation: get a surveyor on to your board of trustees."

Pat Tulloch, director of Southwark Action for Voluntary Organisations in London, is concerned that increasing demands on charities create additional pressures for those considering a move. "There's a push for the voluntary sector to professionalise itself. Having suitable premises for the services you offer is part of that. But unless the resources underpin that, it is difficult to offer credible services at the standard you'd like."

Small groups are particularly vulnerable when negotiating leases. Many of them do not know where to access legal advice, or even what is reasonable to ask of their trustees in terms of support for their new property.

Tulloch says: "There are horror stories of trustees being asked to act as guarantors for the lease. That puts their homes at risk, and is very bad practice."

Julie Ballard, business manager at the Mental Health Foundation, has just organised her organisation's move. She says people are now choosing to work more flexibly, and this has implications for the type of office space required.

"The way charities are changing means we increasingly have home workers, so you don't need so much dedicated space perhaps. But you do need to cater for people hotdesking, and you also need to invest in better communications infrastructure," she says. "Any move to a new property needs to take account of the internal dynamics of how your organisation is developing."

Property company Workspace was set up to cater for fast-changing working practices. It lets to charities of various sizes in buildings designed for flexibility.

Maddy Carragher, operations director, says: "We operate like a hotel, and people come and go according to their needs rather than ours. We specialise in buying large buildings and chopping them up into small units. If you're growing we can easily knock through to the next unit."

Workspace does not undercut the market rate specifically to cater to the voluntary sector, but the rent includes all maintenance, cleaning, power and insurance and, according to company surveys, 90 per cent of tenants say they would recommend Workspace as a landlord.

"Our lease allows the tenant to move out at three months' notice, and that is very unusual in this sector," says Carragher. "Most landlords grudgingly only offer a break after two or three years. We also make sure that our lease is self-explanatory so small organisations aren't confused."

However, not all landlords are so flexible and most charities will have to approach lettings agencies that have no concept of voluntary sector requirements.

Ballard recalls with some amusement her first forays into the world of commercial lets. "I was inundated by all the commercial agencies trying to 'help' me, but they have no understanding of the voluntary sector, and were offering me things like interior design services that weren't relevant," she says wryly.

Although the Mental Health Foundation moved only a few floors downstairs, Ballard viewed many other properties. She estimates that managing the entire move took 20 per cent of her time.

"It's a big responsibility on behalf of your charity and also your charity trustees," she warns.

"A lot of charities have to raise funds from scratch each year, and you're never quite sure until near the time whether you're going to get the grant.

"That can make it difficult to look at a long-term strategy in terms of where you're located."

Given that local authorities are unlikely to revert to offering subsidised rents - and, from this year, charities have had to meet statutory obligations to ensure disabled access - it may well be that there is space opening up in this market for canny entrepreneurs to offer tailored lets that meet the needs of the voluntary sector. 

- Charities Facilities Management Group is at www.upkeep.org.uk/cfmg and Workspace at www.workspacegroup.co.uk  

Ethical lets without hindrance

 With a mug of Fairtrade tea in one hand and his company's annual report proclaiming "Ethical property - investing in social change" in the other, Jamie Hartzell, managing director of the Ethical Property Company, is a landlord with unusual motivations.

"We set ourselves up to support social change organisations through the provision and management of property," he says, "and we aim to run the company as a transparent, ethical business, trying to tackle poverty through regeneration."

With clusters of buildings in Brighton, Bristol, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Oxford and London, the company offers fully serviced lets from about 85 per cent of market rate.It will let to voluntary sector groups and social enterprises only. Insurance is included, all electricity comes from renewable sources, recycling facilities are available on-site and modern IT facilities are installed so that costs can be shared collectively by tenants, who then benefit from cheaper rates.

The concept has been so successful that two share issues to buy stock in the company have been oversubscribed, and voids are almost unheard of. The deal was barely closed on its biggest and most recent purchase in Old Street, London, before the first tenants started moving in recently.

To address the needs of voluntary sector tenants who must rent on standard commercial terms, Hartzell has just founded the Ethical Property Foundation, a charity offering advice and support to people learning to negotiate the more unscrupulous practices commonly used in the lettings market.

"We'll be using the knowledge we've gained of the industry to publish a range of troubleshooting guides looking at some of the unfair practices that landlords use, even if they're still within the law," he says. "They'll cover what to look out for when you're moving in, also what might come up when you're moving out, and how to manage your office in a way that won't damage the environment."

He also intends to establish an accreditation scheme for good landlords with an ethical property mark. To get their names on the list, property companies will have to meet the criteria. For charities contemplating a move, it may soon be the hottest list in town. 

- Go to www.ethicalproperty.co.uk