A3 photocopier rental in London and photocopier leasing are the two most common ways businesses get an office multifunction printer, and they are not the same thing. One is a flexible agreement with your supplier; the other is a fixed finance agreement that can run for five years. Choosing the right one, and reading the small print, makes far more difference to what you pay than the headline monthly price.

This guide is for office managers, finance directors and business owners in London who need an A3 printer or photocopier (most suppliers use the two terms interchangeably). By the end you will know how rental and leasing differ, which suits your business, what each typically costs, which contract clauses to check and which machine size fits your office.

Rental, leasing or buying: what is the difference?

• Rental is typically an agreement directly with the supplier. The supplier owns the machine and you pay a monthly charge to use it, usually with service and toner included on a cost-per-page basis. Terms tend to be shorter and more flexible.
• Leasing is a finance agreement, normally with a third-party finance company (the lessor), not the supplier. Terms are typically 36 to 60 months, usually billed quarterly in advance, and a credit check is needed. Service and toner sit in a separate agreement with the dealer.
• Buying outright means a single capital payment, then a separate service contract for toner, parts and engineer visits.

If a quote says “rental” but the agreement is with a finance company and runs for five years, it is a lease. That isn’t necessarily bad, but you should compare it as one. Our buy, lease or rent guide covers the tax and accounting side in more depth.

Which suits your business?

Rental tends to suit you if:

• You are a new or fast-growing business and can’t yet pass, or don’t want to go through, a finance company’s credit checks
• You are on a short office lease, in serviced or flexible office space, or expect to move within one or two years
• You need a machine for a project, a temporary site or a busy period
• You are between contracts and need cover while you decide on a longer-term setup

Leasing tends to suit you if:

• Your business is established and settled in its office for the next five years
• You want a new machine at the lowest monthly cost
• You are comfortable committing to a fixed term

What does A3 photocopier rental or leasing cost in London?

Prices depend on the machine’s speed, whether it is new or refurbished, how much you print and the length of the agreement. These are typical UK market ranges at the time of writing, shown monthly for easy comparison. They are indicative only; a quote based on your real volumes is always more accurate.

Indicative ranges only, excluding VAT. A 36-month lease typically costs noticeably more per month than a 60-month lease on the same machine.

Two points are worth bearing in mind:

• The monthly payment is rarely the biggest cost. For most offices the cost per page, especially for colour, adds up to more over the term than the machine itself. A slightly dearer agreement with a lower colour rate can be cheaper overall.
• Watch for minimum billing. Some agreements charge for a minimum number of pages every month whether you print them or not. With more people working from home, many London offices now print far less than they did. Consider carefully how many pages you are going to print, and set your agreement accordingly.

If you want to know what you are paying now, our free print audit monitors your current printers remotely for 30 days and reviews your invoices and leases, so you can compare like for like.

What a good agreement should include

Whether you rent or lease, check that each quote covers the same things:

Lease contract clauses to check before you sign

Most leasing problems come from a handful of clauses. Ask your supplier to point each of these out to you, in writing.

1. The number of payments

A “three-year” or “five-year” lease billed quarterly in advance should have 12 or 20 payments respectively. Some suppliers add a sneaky double payment up front, or they try to get you to sign off on a 1 + 12 or 1 +20 payment profile, so that you end up paying 13 or 21 payments. But the quote said it was a three or five-year term. Caveat Emptor.

2. Automatic renewal

Many finance agreements continue automatically at the end of the term unless you give written notice within a specific window, often several months before the end date, sometimes by recorded delivery. Miss it, and you can be committed to further quarterly payments. Put the notice date in your diary the day you sign.

3. Annual price increases

Check whether the cost per page can rise each year and by how much. Are increases linked to inflation, or a fixed annual percentage?

4. Minimum billing

If the service agreement includes a minimum monthly or quarterly volume, make sure it reflects what you print now, not what you printed before hybrid working. Paying for pages you never print is one of the most common overcharges in older agreements.

5. “Upgrade” and settlement terms

Some suppliers offer an upgrade before your term ends by “settling” the old lease and adding the balance to a new, longer one. You end up paying for two machines over a longer period. The supplier should make it clear that they are adding the existing finance to the new agreement.

Top tip – if the supplier is going to include the existing outstanding finance and add it to a new agreement, get clear confirmation about when and how the old finance is being settled. If the new machine is with the same finance company, it will automatically be settled by the finance company itself upon commencement of the new agreement. If the supplier is going to settle it on your behalf, you should ensure that this is done within 7 days. Until the old finance is settled, you remain responsible, not the new supplier.

6. End-of-term costs

Find out who pays for collecting the machine, wiping the hard drive and any return fees. Most modern machines now have a secure data erase function built-in, so this is less of a problem than it was several years ago. If it doesn’t, ask for written confirmation that storage has been securely erased.

Already in a lease that doesn’t suit you?

Common situations in London offices:

• You have moved office, or most staff now work from home, and the machine is far bigger than you need.
• The cost per page has crept up and colour now costs much more than when you signed.
• Service has deteriorated, but the finance agreement still has years to run.

Your options usually include staying put and renegotiating the service element, getting an honest settlement figure and comparing it against a new arrangement, or letting the agreement run to its end and making sure notice is served on time. The right answer depends on the numbers, which is exactly what our free print audit is designed to show.

Which A3 printer should you rent or lease?

The most common mistake is choosing a machine that is too big (paying for speed you don’t need) or too small (queues at the printer and a machine that wears out early). Match the machine to your monthly volume and how you use it:

Volume bands are indicative. Two offices of the same size can print very different amounts.

You can browse the full ranges on our shop: Konica Minolta bizhub office printers and Xerox AltaLink C8100/C8200. For a deeper guide to sizing, read how to choose an A3 office printer; if you are weighing up the two brands, see Konica Minolta vs Xerox printer rental and our head-to-head of the Xerox AltaLink C8235 and Konica Minolta bizhub C361i.

Do you need A3 at all?

If your office never prints anything larger than A4, an A4 machine may be enough. But A3 multifunction printers usually have bigger paper trays, faster speeds, better finishing and a lower cost per page, so many offices choose A3 even when most of their printing is A4. Typical A3 uses include spreadsheets and plans, presentation handouts printed on A3 and folded, marketing proofs and legal bundles with fold-out pages.

New or refurbished?

A good refurbished machine can be a sensible choice, particularly on shorter rental terms. The key is who refurbished it and what support comes with it. Scriptum rents refurbished Xerox AltaLink machines that have been refurbished by Xerox factory-trained engineers, with the same remote monitoring, automatic toner and UK helpdesk as a new machine. Our article on refurbished vs new photocopiers explains what to check.

London practicalities most suppliers don’t mention

• Building access. Many Central London buildings, especially managed estates in Canary Wharf, the City and the West End, require deliveries to be booked in advance, with risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) and proof of insurance. Ask whether your supplier handles this paperwork.
• Lifts, doors and stairs. An A3 floor-standing multifunction printer is roughly the size of a small filing cabinet, and wider again with a finisher. Check lift dimensions and door widths, particularly in older West End and Clerkenwell buildings.
• Out-of-hours installation. Some buildings only allow deliveries before 8am or after 6pm. A supplier with its own London engineers and installation crew can usually work around this.
• Shared and serviced offices. In flexible workspace you may need the machine on a separate network or VLAN, and secure “pull” printing so documents only print when the user is at the device.
• Engineer access. A lease or rental commits you to a supplier’s service for years. When something goes wrong, what matters is how quickly an engineer can reach your floor, and a supplier with engineers based in London has an obvious advantage.

Our guide to managed print in Central London covers these area by area, from Canary Wharf to the West End.

How Scriptum handles rental and leasing in London

Scriptum is based at Canary Wharf and has its own engineering team in London, covering Central London and out across the M25 region, with UK-wide support beyond that. We supply and support Konica Minolta and Xerox A3 multifunction printers on lease, direct rental or outright purchase. Every machine we supply is monitored remotely, toner is sent automatically, and you get a UK helpdesk rather than an offshore call centre.

Typical problems we are asked to solve:

“We’re a young business and the finance company turned us down.”

Direct rental on a refurbished Xerox AltaLink avoids third-party finance altogether. The agreement is with us, so you can get a proper A3 machine in place without a lease.

“We’re paying for pages we don’t print.”

Since hybrid working became normal, many offices print far less than their contract assumes. We look at actual usage and set up an agreement based on what you are printing.

“Our lease auto-renewed and we didn’t notice.”

We help you find the settlement figure and notice terms, compare the options on the same basis and make sure the next agreement’s key dates are clear from day one.

Rental and leasing checklist

• Rental or lease? If a lease, the lessor is named and their terms provided
• Exact model, speed and configuration confirmed in writing
• Delivery, installation and network set-up included, or the additional cost is clearly detailed
• Mono and colour cost per page stated, with how and when they can increase
• Minimum billing (if any) matches your current volumes
• Number of payments, start date, end date and notice period recorded
• Settlement of any existing lease shown separately
• Collection and data-wipe costs confirmed
• Supplier can meet your building’s delivery and access requirements

FAQs

Is it better to rent or lease a photocopier?

Leasing usually costs less per month for an established business committed for several years. Rental suits businesses that want flexibility, shorter terms or to avoid third-party finance.

Can I cancel a photocopier lease early?

Usually not without paying most or all of the remaining instalments, because the lease is a fixed finance agreement. Ask the finance company for a settlement figure, then compare your options.

Can I rent an A3 printer for a short period?

Yes, shorter rental terms are possible, especially on refurbished machines. Short terms usually cost more per month, so tell your supplier how long you really need the machine. There will most likely be a delivery and collection charge on top of the rental amount.

Do you need a credit check to rent a photocopier?

For a finance lease, yes. For direct rental with a supplier like Scriptum, the agreement is with us rather than a finance house, which is why rental is popular with newer businesses.

Is toner included?

In most managed rental and lease service agreements, yes. Toner is included in the cost per page and sent automatically when the machine reports it is running low. Check that this is stated in the agreement.

Do I own the photocopier at the end of a lease?

Normally no. Most office equipment leases are operating-style agreements, so the machine is returned or the agreement continued at the end. Check the agreement, as terms vary.

Do you cover photocopier rental and leasing outside Central London?

Yes. Our London engineering team covers Central London and the M25 region, and we support customers across the UK through our manufacturer partnerships.

Talk to Scriptum about A3 photocopier rental or leasing in London

Whether you need a new machine or a second opinion on an existing lease, tell us roughly how many people you have, what you print and when your current agreement ends. We will recommend the right machine and the right type of agreement, with clear, comparable pricing. Call 0800 011 2858, email interface@scriptumds.co.uk, or use the form below.

Prices are indicative UK market ranges at the time of writing (October 2026) and exclude VAT. This article is general information, not legal or financial advice; always read your agreement in full. Model availability and specifications are subject to change.