When a lease portfolio outgrows the team managing it, the first question is usually "who do we add?" A more useful first question is "what work are we trying to cover?"
The answer shapes everything that follows, including whether the right move is a hire, a services partner, or a mix of both.
Start With the Work, Not the Headcount
List the recurring lease work your team owns:
- Critical dates: notice deadlines, option windows, and renewals, each with a named owner.
- Abstracting: new leases and amendments recorded the same way every time.
- Charge review: CAM and other occupancy costs checked against the lease, not only paid.
- Landlord follow-up: open questions, missing statements, and requests carried through.
- Accounting handoffs: lease events shared with finance when they happen.
Next to each one, note who does it today and who covers it when that person is out.
Three Questions That Show Where the Gap Is
- Capacity. Is there time for this work alongside everything else on the team's plate?
- Depth. Would someone recognize a CAM cap that was never applied, or a co-tenancy right, in time to act on it?
- Continuity. If the person who knows the portfolio took two weeks off, would anyone else know where things stand?
Three Routes
Add a hire gives you dedicated in-house ownership and growing knowledge of your portfolio. Recruiting and ramp-up take time, and one person can still become the single point of dependency.
Bring in a services partner adds specialist capacity and experience without changing your systems. It works best when your team names an owner for the relationship and keeps the decisions that depend on business context.
Do both pairs an in-house lead with a partner for backlogs, specialist work, and time off. It works best when the split of responsibilities is written down.
The right route depends on where the gaps are, not on which option sounds easiest.
What a Partner Works Inside
A services partner works within the tools you already use, so you don't need to buy or replace software. Specialists record amendments, follow up with landlords, review charges against the lease, and flag items that need a decision. Your team keeps the decisions only it can make.