Garden Offices
Best-selling Garden Offices
- Can I use my home as an office?
- Does a garden office add value?
- Do you need planning permission for a garden office?
- Can you put a toilet in a garden office?
- Can you sleep in a garden room?
- Is a garden office tax deductible?
- Why should I buy a home office?
- What are your best garden offices?
- Can you sleep in a garden office?
- How much do garden offices cost?
- How to build a garden office
- How to get WiFi in a garden office
A rising number of small businesses and employees are based at home. This is seen by many as an increasingly attractive and viable option for a number of reasons.
- You effectively gain back the time which would otherwise be spent commuting to and from work. This can either be spent doing something productive or simply spending a little longer in bed.
- A huge reduction in travel costs, whether this be spent on petrol or public transport.
A home office can either take the form of a pre-existing room in your house, or you could take the plunge and invest in an increasingly popular garden office!
Adding value to a property with an outdoor building such as a garden office is becoming an increasingly common practise. While we wouldn’t recommend you purchase a garden office or similar garden building with the main purpose of increasing your property’s value, there’s no denying that doing so will raise the value of your property. Investing in a garden office will make your property more attractive to potential buyers in the future, due to an increase in floor space, a more pleasing garden aesthetic and the ability to work from home which is fast becoming the norm. Some estimates have it that a quality garden home office can increase your properties value by between 5-15%.
Whether or not planning permission is required for a garden building is determined by its height and what it’ll be used for.
The maximum height of a garden office varies between 2.5-4 metres, depending on the type of roof and how far it’s situated from your house boundary. We strongly recommend contacting your local planning authority for any building which doesn’t measure below 2.5 metres in height.
In terms of use, if you’re running a full time business from your garden office then you may well need planning permission, irrespective of height. Again, it’s better to be safe than sorry, which is why we recommend getting in touch with your local planning authority before purchasing a garden office.
Though this can become a costly process - especially if your garden room isn’t situated close enough to your house to connect a toilet system from the mains water supply - installing a bathroom in your garden office can be a relatively simple task for a trained plumber. During this undertaking, it is critical to ensure that Building Regulation standards are properly adhered to.
If your garden building is somewhere that you and/or guests plan to occasionally sleep in, then this is no problem at all and won’t require planning permission of any sort. However, if you intend to regularly sleep in it, effectively making your garden building into self-contained accommodation, then you must apply for planning permission and meet building regulations.
Despite a garden office being a movable item, it counts as a structure from which your business operates, as opposed to an item of equipment. Because of this, no costs incurred from construction or the purchase price of the office itself can be tax deducted from business profits. Though, generally speaking, items within your garden office, such as furniture and thermal insulation, can be tax deducted.
With a lot of us transitioning to working from home (WFH) recently, a rising number of freelancers, small business owners, and even employees are thinking about building a garden office. This offers a number of solutions including
- Being cheaper than renting office space
- Reducing time and money spent on commutes
- Encouraging productivity by having a professional space outside the home
So why not have a look at our range of garden home office buildings to see if it’s the right fit for you?
A lot of our log cabins are either highly suitable as, or designed to be, home offices. If we had to pick some of our favourite garden offices to spark some ideas for you, we’d say:
The BillyOh Kent Garden Office is a large, durable building with expansive internal space. The multi-room feature on the two larger sizes offers 2 distinct spaces for you and your family to enjoy. The Kent Office has been designed with various features such as double doors, opening windows and an overhanging entrance. Complete with Floor, Roof and Felt as standard.
With a wide range of sizes and a strong Tongue and Groove construction in 2 thicknesses, you are guaranteed to find the perfect Dorset for your garden. The timeless design with a Reverse Apex roof and wide opening double doors and windows make this cabin a must-have.
Designed to complement any garden, The Fraya is a highly versatile and adaptable garden building. The Fraya features a contemporary pent design and modern front overhang, adding style as well as practicality. You can customise certain aspects of this Log Cabin to suit your tastes and needs.
The Winchester is a traditional Alpine style cabin with opening windows and windowed double doors that gives a bright and airy interior. Customise your building to suit you. Complete with Floor, Roof and Felt as standard.
If your garden building is somewhere that you and/or guests plan to occasionally sleep in, then this is no problem at all and won’t require planning permission of any sort. However, if you intend to regularly sleep in it, effectively making your garden building into self-contained accommodation, then you must apply for planning permission and meet building regulations.
Our range of BillyOh garden offices starts from just £1515. For more, check out our post on how to choose a cabin home office.
All of our BillyOh garden offices are built using tongue and groove panels made from high-quality European sourced timber. Panels come pre-cut and simply require assembly. Just follow the instructions provided with your order and you and a friend (with some basic tools) can have your garden room built in no time!
For more, see our post on installing utilities in your garden room.