Renting Vs Buying Welfare Units – The Best Option?
June 10, 2025
Creating a conducive construction environment requires investment in your workforce, particularly your on-site workers. After all, your project’s outcome is dependent on their participation, productivity, and comfort.
To facilitate all three, you can create comfortable working conditions by investing in on-site welfare facilities. But a question you may have is: should you get welfare facilities on hire or look for welfare units to buy?
What are the pros and cons of each? Which option is best for your project? Let’s explore these questions and more in this guide.
The Importance of Site Welfare Facilities
Before we explore the differences between hiring and buying welfare units, let’s first understand the importance of these facilities.
Here are some key reasons to have welfare facilities on construction sites:
For the health and safety needs of your on-site workforce
To maintain project productivity and boost worker morale
To ensure the comfort of your on-site workforce
Now you know the importance of welfare facilities, let’s take a look at the differences between buying welfare units versus renting welfare units.
Buying Welfare Cabins
If you’re looking for welfare units to buy, make sure you understand the following points before you arrive at a decision.
Long-Term Investment
Buying welfare units is a long-term investment, especially for construction businesses, event management companies, and remote operations that need these facilities on a regular basis. The upfront cost is high, but owning welfare cabins is usually a one-time investment.
Once you buy a welfare cabin, they become your organisation’s asset, adding value to your business, particularly if you buy a fleet of units. But you’ll also be responsible for maintenance and servicing to keep these units running optimally.
Customisation and Control
Owning a fleet of welfare cabins means having complete control over how you customise them to your project’s needs.
Whether you’re looking to adjust the layout, install extra amenities, fit a site office, or add your business’ branding elements, you have the freedom to modify these welfare facilities however you wish.
Of course, it’s worth noting that these additions come at an extra cost.
Availability and Reliability
Having your own fleet of welfare vehicles means they’re always available when you need them. You don’t have to wait for a site welfare facilities hire provider to deliver them to you or face shortages in peak times. Their ready availability means you can rely on them to meet your project timeline.
But this also means making provisions for additional secure storage space to store your welfare vehicles when they’re not in use.
Hiring Welfare Cabins
Here are the benefits of hiring welfare facilities.
Cost Effective
Site welfare unit hire costs much less than the significant upfront expenses involved in purchasing units. This makes them a more affordable option for short-term projects and organisations with limited budgets. You’ll be able to manage your cash flow better because you’re only paying for the duration of use.
Opting for welfare facilities on hire is better when the maintenance and repair costs are typically looked after by the rental provider. Not only does that mean you don’t have any responsibilities to maintain maintenance, but it can also amount to significant cost savings, particularly since these cabins are prone to wear and tear after prolonged use.
Welfare unit hire costs are subject to deductions as a business expense, which can add to your cost savings.
Flexibility
In addition to the low welfare unit hire costs, the flexibility of hiring is another benefit. If your project scope changes or you need additional units, you can easily adjust your rental agreement.
You have the flexibility to extend or end the welfare facilities hire agreement according to your project timeline. So you don’t need to commit long-term if you’re unsure about how long your project will take.
Hiring welfare facilities makes it easy to adapt to growing business or project requirements. You can also switch to bigger and better welfare facilities on hire without the burden of selling your old units.
Logistics and Storage
Getting your site welfare facilities on hire takes the headache out of logistics. The hire provider takes care of the delivery, setup, and collection so you don’t have to. It also spares you the responsibility of finding secure storage space for the units when they’re not in use.
Other Important Considerations
You also need to consider the effect of depreciation and welfare regulations before hiring or buying welfare facilities.
Regulations and Compliance
Whether you rent or buy your on-site welfare facilities, they need to meet the mandatory health and safety regulations. Usually, rental companies take care of these compliance requirements, but if you buy welfare units, the onus of fulfilling these requirements is on you.
Keeping up with regulatory changes is easier when opting for welfare facilities on hire, as rental providers are quicker to upgrade their cabins in line with new standards.
Welfare units also require regular safety inspections and certifications, which rental providers take care of.
Depreciation
The biggest setback of choosing to buy welfare units is that they depreciate over time, just like any other organisational asset. The longer you hold onto old units, the lower their value becomes.
Although these units may hold some resale value, they won’t be able to recover enough of the initial investment, especially if they’re very worn.
Questions to Consider Before Picking The Best Option
Before making a final decision, consider these questions:
What’s your budget?
How long do you need the cabins?
Is customisation essential?
Can you commit to regular maintenance?
How much flexibility do you need?
Hireforce Welfare – Making Welfare Facilities Hire A Breeze
Ultimately, whether you choose to get welfare facilities to hire or buy them depends on your project’s duration, business needs, and budget.
Buying welfare facilities may seem like a reliable option with a one-time expense, but it requires a sizable budget that not all organisations can afford. Renting welfare cabins may limit your control over them, but it’s a more affordable and flexible option.
Hireforce Welfare offers reliable site welfare facilities for hire that suit your business’ needs. We’ve been operating for years and have supported hundreds of projects with well-maintained and self-contained welfare cabins.
Our 6 to 16-person Ecosmart range is HSE compliant and a high-quality rental solution for your construction project.
Call to request a quote on our welfare unit hire costs.