Do I Need Planning Permission.co.uk
Making the most of your Home

Create a Home Office the Nordic Wood Way

August 14, 2009

For many of us, the thought of foregoing the daily commute and working from home is no longer the stuff of dreams. According to recent statistics, nearly 6% of the UK's population work from home. Other than choice, the credit crunch has been partly responsible with many looking at ways to work more efficiently and cost-effectively.

With living space at a premium and the loft full of unwanted gifts and furniture that may not even be yours, how else can you meaningfully take up the working from home opportunity? If you are lucky enough to live in a house with a reasonably sized garden, the answer may lie just there. An office located in the garden works on many levels. Firstly, it quite literally divorces your work life from your home life and being in a "green environment" helps focus the grey cells. Furthermore, if you have been using a bedroom as an office, you can reclaim that space for its rightful purpose and in doing so, makes the home more marketable when it comes to selling. The costs of creating a room with a view quite often equates to less than the stamp duty on an average house sell and a sympathetic and well designed outside room will add value to your property.

For those of you who are seriously considering working from home but question the suitability of your garden, why not contact the made-to-measure cabin specialist Nordic Wood? For example with a space no more than 29square metres, Nordic Wood is able to offer an office with a wc, storage and utility space. If you feel that space is better used to store the children away, it could double as a guest/hobby room. What makes Nordic Wood stand apart is their understanding of the planning system and where appropriate, they can avoid the necessity for a planning application by creating a useable space that by virtue of its size and location would not require any formal planning consent. For more information why not visit their website:- www.nordic-wood.co.uk

Now for the boring bit....if you do consider creating an outside room, it needs to be a space which is comfortable and pleasant to be in. Firstly, make sure that the proposed structure is sited on foundations and not slabs and don't forget the need to run power cables from the house to the outside room. The building must be insulated in order to avoid freezing in winter and overheating in summer and finally remember that outside rooms can be vulnerable to burglary and therefore you will need to fix locks and possibly an alarm system.

Do I Need Planning Permission to Erect Such a Structure?

You do not need planning permission to erect such a structure if:-

• You do not build it forward of the front elevation of the house;
• It is less than 3m high with a flat roof and 4m high for a pitched roof;
• Any part of it that is 2m away or closer is less than 2.5m high;
• The proposal doesn't involve the need to construct a raised platform more than 350mm high;
• It will take up less than 50% of the garden area.

Other restrictions may well apply if for example you live in a Conservation Area or your house is Listed so it is worth checking with the relevant Local Authority.

To find a company who may assist you further, simply click on the free links located on the right hand side of the page.

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