As the UK is slowly returning to normality, views on working arrangements are changing. Over the past year throughout the pandemic, the need to become adaptable has become clear in order to keep businesses afloat. Therefore, many employers are considering continuing to implement their working from home schemes even after restrictions have been completely lifted. This is why many homeowners are considering a garden office.
Many of us who had to adapt to working from home learnt the hard way that you need to do more than just set up a desk. The environment you work in impacts your day-to-day productivity and efficiency more than we all realised. As a result of this, the demand for converting outbuildings into garden offices, or building garden offices from scratch has increased drastically
Creating a Garden Office
The process of creating a garden office is fairly straightforward. However, there are vital factors you will need to consider prior to beginning this project. The main factor will be whether you require planning permission. In most cases, your outbuilding will fall under permitted developments. The only circumstances you will need planning permission for are if you plan on implementing toilet and accommodation facilities, or if your home is listed or under a conservation area.
Building Regulations
Your project may also be subject to building regulations if you are planning the following for your garden office:
- Installing electricity
- Including sleeping accommodation
- Attaching the outbuilding to your home
- Constructing your garden office less than 1 meter from your boundary
- The building being more than 30 squared meters
Further Rules
Furthermore, you will also need to complete your garden office outbuilding adhering to a few general rules. These include the following:
- Your building cannot be in front of your home
- There cannot be any balconies or raised platforms
- The maximum height cannot exceed 3 meters, or 2.5 meters if the building is within 2.5 meters of the boundary
- The total amount of space taken up by your garden office and any other structures in the garden must not be greater than 50%
These are a lot of aspects to take into consideration, so it is best that you hire professionals to provide you with the best advice in regard to design and compliance. Our team can assist you with any planning permission and architectural plans you may require gaining. Then our construction team can create the high-quality results you require from your home office.
Contact us today to begin discussing your home office outbuilding.