Building a home office

Having made the decision to start your own business and work from home you face the difficult choice of how to go about it and more importantly where. Do you convert the loft, build an extension on to the house or head outside and create an office in your garden by converting an old shed or garden building or have a garden office built. Let's look at the pros and cons of typical home office sites.

1. Spare bedroom. Bedrooms convert easily into home offices. They offer space away from household hubbub, enough square footage for office equipment, and built-in storage in existing closets. Of course, not all homes have a bedroom to spare. 

2. Your own bedroom. Lots of privacy here, but not a good choice if you need to burn the midnight oil while your spouse attempts to sleep. 

3. Attic. Lots of quiet up here, too, but a low ceiling, lack of light, and access problems can necessitate expensive remedies. Plus, attics can be too hot or too cold.

4. Garage. Also great for clients, but you'll have to find a place for the car (or cars) your office displaces.

5. Dining room. Many families wouldn't miss the dining room if it were converted into a home office. But few people could function in the chaos created by working next to family living areas.

6. Converted garden shed. Many of the log cabin type summerhouses that are converted give the feel of being at home but away from the family comings and goings however with no heating limited lighting and often damp environments this is far from ideal for you or the PC.

7. Garden Office. Giving you separate storage and keeping you away from the noise of the main house as well as having sealed glazing, good lighting and being very secure. A garden office is cost effective and quick to install with no planning needed. It’s ideal for separate access if needed. Very few gardens would be too small for such an office.

With all these options to choose from and the nature of your business to take into account the main factors in making the decision come down to time and money. With the business itself taking up the lion share of your time. Getting up and running as quickly as possible being your main concern, just how long would it take and how much would it cost to create the right environment to work well and impress future customers.

You need planning permission for most forms of development. Planning law defines 'development' as: "the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land".

Most building work requires Town and Country planning permission from the local authority, you will therefore need:

• A Survey of your home by a Chartered Surveyor

• Outline drawings showing proposed work

• Site and House plans-rear and side and front elevation drawings

• To complete a local authority planning application

• To pay all local authority fees

It normally takes 2 weeks to survey and complete all necessary drawings and forms and to submit the complete planning application. Most local authorities take 6 to 8 weeks to grant planning consent. If the property is a listed building separate permission is required.

This gives you at least 10 weeks before work can even begin in which time you need to find tradesmen you can trust to do the job well and within budget. The budget itself will depend on the size and complexity of the work being done. Finding tradesmen who can work within your timescale can be a problem too with most trades nowadays having a serious shortfall in trained skilled professionals. Checks should be made on their references and previous work should be viewed to be completely satisfied before inviting them to work within your home. A budget and schedule of works needs to be worked out to prevent costs spiralling and important details of the job you want done being missed. 

Some small developments, however, such as a small extension to your house or a short term change in how you use your land or a garden office that that is more than 5 meters away from your home and takes less than 50% of your garden space may not need a specific planning application. These changes may already be covered by general permission from the General Permitted Development Order 1995 and are called "permitted development".  

So with the option of a garden office, given that you almost certainly will not need planning permission, how long would it take to complete such an undertaking? From the initial request for a garden office brochure to completion of the building can take half the time it takes to just get planning permission for an extension or conversion. Bespoke garden offices come complete with sealed unit windows, insulation, secure locking doors, carpets and other optional extras including space saving workstations.  Once you have made the choice of what to have in your garden office within 3-4 weeks it will arrive at your home and be constructed for you within the day. No site survey is needed prior to construction and as long as you have a flat base and prior to their arrival you have your electricity and phone extensions run out to the garden you can be working in your office that same evening. If you don’t have the flat base this too can be arranged but at an additional cost. Best of all once you have decided on the package and / or extras you require the price is fixed. So no workmen giving you a quote and the finding half way through that something has not been accounted for and you need a contingency budget to cope with it. To top it all there is no need for building regulators to inspect the building on completion to make sure it complies with the latest building regulations. As a garden office is specifically for your business to be run from you can claim back your VAT through your business too and depreciate the asset at a rate of 40%. As the garden office is easy to erect it also has the possibility of moving with you if you move home and also if it is no longer needed they realise substantial resale value. 

So with time being money and budgets for the start up costs of a business needing to be as tight as possible it would seem to make sense to go for the garden office. So what’s stopping you – you could be in your own garden office working from home before your competitors have completed their planning consent!