Using a garage as an office -- permission needed?

[Jake]

Hi All,

The detached house we bought came with a detached single garage with a flat roof. It's an eye-sore and badly built. We plan to knock it down and rebuild one of the same size but with a pitched roof.

Getting planning permission to do this doesn't worry me.

What I'm worried about is the other part of our plan -- I want the new garage to have a partition wall splitting the rear 1/3rd of it off. This area will have its own door and desk in it. It will be my office (I am self employed and work at home) and full-time place of work. The house itself is the registered address of my limited company.

How much more complicated does this make it? Does it then become "commercial" property?

Should I own up to the office part of the plan at all? I'd like to do it all "by the book" but only if it doesn't turn in to some bureaucratic nightmare.

Jake

[John Rumm]

As long as it is not used exclusively for work then you are ok.

So stick a comfy chair and a small TV in there, and call it your study. It is not exclusively used for business and hence does not attract business rates or require a change of use.

If you describe it as a "study area" I can't see it being a problem.

[Andy Hall]

Generally the planning aspect would relate to if there is a loss of off street parking as a major point.

Also, if the planners believe that you are running a business and all of the implications of that it can be an issue.

Finally, there is the general statutory planning stuff in terms of sizes and location etc.

You have then to do a building control application, which has to do with the construction and safety aspects.

If you want to avoid some of the bureauratic dimension, could you not move your company's registered office to commercial premises - e.g. your accountant's office? Assuming that you are doing something that does not involve movement of large amounts of goods and deliveries, you are in effect working from home which is rather different to running a full scale business. There are tax implications as well and this is something to discuss with your accountant. I would do all of that first before contacting the LA.

[Newshound]

Talk to your planners, you may well find guidance on the web site and you will probably find them very reasonable and helpful. Certainly there was no "commercial premises" issue when I started working from home in my existing study / office. Admittedly not a garage conversion.

[tony sayer]

If you do use it for business use well there's business and business and some firms can be run very well from home and thats one less commuter using the roads so less carbon and the council can't argue with that!....

As to the tax.. don't bother if you change for the use of it to the firm you'll get taxed on the income from it!..

[Osprey]

This is sort of opposite to some reponses ... if you are not changing anything externaly then, you could simply not tell Planning. However be advised this is a material change of use, and is therefore liable to Building Regs ........ the garage would have been built as non-hatitable, and therefore do not have to comply with insulation, fire escape etc. etc. ..

Now you might think they will never know ... but if they find out they can force you to apply for building regs and that would mean meetings current requirements.

I have been caught on such an issue.

Rick

[Owain]

1. Registered office does not of itself constitute business use.
2. The office will have to comply with Building Regs for habitable structure, in particular: thermal insulation, fire barrier to the garage, means of escape from fire.
3. If you use the office exclusively for work then (a) change of use planning permission would be required; (b) business rates would be payable; (c) you would lose the 'principal residence' exemption on capital gains tax

Obviously what you are going to apply and use it for is a hobbies room :-)

As an aside, I would incorporate a lobby with a WC off (even better a shower room) as this will be convenient if you/clients don't want to use the house facilities, and may enhance the saleability of the property as potential for a granny annex. Do not include a kitchen, as otherwise the property may be considered self-contained and separately liable to council tax.

Also put in a duct for phone/data and alarm cabling back to the house

Owain

[dg]

You don't need any planning permission for an office at home.

You are not changing the use of the property from domestic to office, and it will still remain in class C3 - dwellings and small businesses at home.

The only time planning may be involved, is if there is a condition on the original planning approval for the house, to maintain the garage as a garage. This is more likely for newer builds

You will need building regs. If it is just a desk for you, then it will be treated a just a domestic room. If you will use it for customers and clients, then it may well need to comply with more onerous building and fire regs in terms of (greater) means of escape and fire exits etc.

dg

[Hugo Nebula]

On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:36:38 +0100, a particular chimpanzee, Andy Hall randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

If it's less than 30m², either 1m from the boundary or constructed substantially of materials of limited combustibility, and isn't used for sleeping accomodation, then it would be exempt.

[Andy Hall]

Which is basically double garage size.

Does the 30m^2 rule still apply where part is an office/usable accomodation (but not for sleeping)?

[dg]

Surely the office/habitable room element will require an application - especially in relation to the fire precautions between this and the garage area.

dg

[Alex Threlfall]

Seconded :) I reccomend a simple PBX for clients with similar setups, normally a BT Revelation or similar, and a partitionable alarm system is always good as you can effectivley extend the house alarm to the shed/garage etc.

[Ian White]

Don't forget to extend the front doorbell too.

[manatbandq]

I think 3a - 3c are wrong. I'm certain they're wrong in the case where the office is a room in the house, rather than in the garage. I doubt a garage is ever a "principle residence". Can you cite an authoratative source to back up your assertions?

MBQ

[Bob Mannix]

Not quite clear what he meant by "use the office exclusively for work". I assume he means it is the sole place from which the said business runs, in which case you might require change of use. I don't think he meant the garage was a principle residence but that the whole property, having undergone a change of use, was now not classed as a principle residence for cgt. Don't know whether he's right of course but (b) and (c) would edpend on the outcome of (a).

[Owain]

It makes no difference. It is within the curtilage of a dwelling. You would require a similar change of use if you were repairing cars for a living in the garage. It is the *exclusively* for work which is important.

No; I can't remember everything I've read in the last 30 years.

Owain

[manatbandq]

"Self-employed and working from home If you are self-employed and work from home you can still qualify for private residence relief when you sell your home if the whole of your property is used as a home, even though you work there.

However, if any part of your property is used exclusively for business purposes, for example as:

an office a store room you may have to pay CGT on part of the gain you make when you sell the property"

My reading of that is you may lose PPR on the part of the property used exclusively for business, which isn't quite what you said.

For planning, Aylesbury Vale DC says "Planning permission may be needed to convert a garage into living or office accommodation. The original decision notice for your house should tell you if you need planning permission or you can contact us" again, only a "may".

MBQ

[Owain]

"Self-employed and working from home

Sorry, what I *meant* was that my points (a)(b)(c) will apply to the office part of the premises, not the whole of the premises.

If a bedroom is converted to office space it may be that the council tax banding for the house will be dropped, but the office room will be subject to business rates.

Oh, if part of the premises are used exclusively for business they'd normally be excluded from a householder's insurances too.

Much better to have a nice hobbies room.

Owain

[Hugo Nebula]

On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:43:04 -0700, a particular chimpanzee, dg randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

No you won't. Schedule 2 (Exempt Buildings), Class VI to the Regulations only refers to 'small detached buildings'. It doesn't differentiate the use, except that it shouldn't contain sleeping accommodation.

[Jake]

Thanks to you all. Good advice and I've read it all.

In the end I took Newshound's advice and spoke to the planning dept at my local council (Gedling in Notts). The man there was surprisingly nice (don't know why I expected anything but) and very helpful.

If I understood him correctly it sounds like it's a formality if I need to apply for permission at all. Apparently I can extend my house by up to 70m3 without question as long as it's no more than 5m from the house.

I mentioned the "study" and he said that shouldn't be a problem at all. In fact he made it sound as though I could do what ever I liked.

Maybe it was his last day and when I apply it will be a different matter.

He did say I should fill out a questionnaire (includes a sketch of plans) they have online to ascertain if permission is needed. At least then, as he said, I'll have something to "wave at the solicitors" when I come to sell.

Jake