Can I rent out my garden room as an office space?

[TeaAndMuffins]

We've recently renovated our summer house at the bottom of the garden. It's now insulated and had electricity and air conditioning. We've tested using it as an office space and it works really well. It has it's own access so you don't need to go through the house.
We need extra income but can't have a lodger for various reasons, so we're thinking about letting the garden room as an office space.
I'm pretty sure this would all be fine and legal, but I can't find any examples of people doing this. Is this a thing? If so, where do people advertise it? And how much should you charge for it?
Thanks!

Unless you are going to installl plumbing and apply for change of use it would have to be an informal "word of mouth/cash in hand" arrangement. There are both pros and cons to this kind of arrangement, not least of which are potentially snitching neighbours.

Was it all done with council approval to start with? If needed that is

If your running a business from home. I think you need planning permission.

And i also think it may have mortgage/insurance implications?

Remember that toilets are very expensive to install/ plumb.

I don't think you can have them use your house toilet unless you are willing to be there ALL THE TIME they are booked for, or give them keys.

I don’t think it would be worth the cost of the toilet you’d need to install plus the insurance etc.
My sister lives in a house where there’s a car barn with a room above. There is a toilet and hand basin and single large room and it was built and advertised as a home office. It’s in a very touristy city so she looked at options but gave up as too much hassle to rent it for any purpose. She uses it for guests sometimes.

Companies that rent offices and spaces are going bankrupt because since COVID its a dying need. Work from home is exactly that, no need to drive to someone else's house to work from home in their home.

Hot hotels are mainly for traveling business people and are specially wired for the high speed and capacity data needs.

What benefit does your garden house offer over someone sitting in their dining room or spare bedroom at home?

I think you'd need toilet facilities and a tap. But you could advertise to local writers' groups? I'm an author and when my kids were small I would have paid ANY MONEY to have a little office to go to to write rather than trying to do it amid the mess and lego.

Talk to a planning consultant, when I converted a building to an annex I did this with my consultant’s advice, and needed only permitted development , and sign off from building control , this had a full bathroom but not a kitchen ( I didnt need to put in a kitchen ) and was 3 rooms in total

I think you would need to check about planning permission and any other permissions required from tour council, you’d need to insure it, definitely have a toilet and kitchenette facilities put in, you’d need parking and also parking for customers if the person has clients, a good WiFi connection and if you have children then you would have to guarantee they wouldn’t be out in the garden during working hours. You would also need to check about tax implications for the income.

There are working hubs where I am and they aren’t very expensive. I’m not sure the income would make it worthwhile.

you could advertise to local writers' groups?

How many people could you seat round a table? You might find there's a demand from small groups wanting an affordable place to meet. But you would need a toilet and drinking water.

If you let it out you'll need to factor in cleaning. And probably be strict about tenants bringing young children with them.

This; also, to be honest, if I was renting somewhere outside the home I'd absolutely hate to be going into someone else's home to use kitchen/toilet facilities. The sort of person who didn't care about that might not be the sort of person you want renting your office room.

Letting someone outside your family access your house, especially when your were absent, would invalidate your house and contents insurance if you didn't tell your insurer, and would probably increase your premiums at renewal.

Yes agreed

If I was renting somewhere outside the home I'd absolutely hate to be going into someone else's home to use kitchen/toilet facilities.

Plus who's going to want to stop what they're doing to walk across a garden, possibly in the rain, every time they want to go to the loo or fill the kettle? It's a waste of time when you're there to work.

And someone made a good point about wifi. Will they be using op's, and will the signal from the house reach that far?

You neighbours would all have to be informed by the council and given an opportunity to put in a complaint/objection to a business being run in your garden too - are you aware of all that?!

What do your friends do currently? Is this only a problem during the school holidays?

In answer to a question, it was built before we moved here and didn't need pp initially due to it's size.
In terms of needing to be present at home all the time if they are using our toilet and kitchen, I don't quite understand. If you have a lodger you don't need to be present all the time they're there? If we know and trust the person, I don't mind them having a key so they can use our facilities whenever they like.
As for my friends who can't work from home or in libraries/co working, their kids are not at school or preschool so it's not just during holidays but all year. They commute into the office because it's the only place they can work, even though WFH is allowed.

Also, I don't know if it makes a difference, but we were weren't thinking of renting it out as a space to run a business, but rather for a professional or artist to use it as a work space. E.g. someone who's company allows them to WFH but they don't have a suitable workspace at home, maybe because they have housemates or young children at home. Or perhaps an artist who doesn't have a dedicated room to work at home.

And yes the WiFi signal is good in there

All very lofty ambitions, but you still need planning permission for change of use from garden room to business premises. Even if the local artist was using it to celebrate their muse.

The lack of toilet, running water and independence from your house would not sell it.

You seem to think you can solve that issue by renting it to a friend. But they might not want to be so reliant on you. Plus, you would still need planning permission.

I honestly do not see many people wanting to WFH from your garden room when they have less facilities than at home or the office, and would have to leave their home to get to it. They may as well go to the office.

Yes I knew that if pp is required the neighbours can object

Yep we knew this

I suppose I thought the benefit might be space and privacy. I know a fair few people who don't have a home office and can't work in their shared living space due to housemates or children. And they can't take confidential phone calls in libraries, cafes or co working spaces. Their company doesn't require them to work in the office but they have nowhere else to go so they commute there anyway because it's more comfortable than working in their bedroom. That's the kind of person I was imagining.

Why don't you ask those people you know then? Would they be interested? Would they be happy to pay you x amount?
Would it be very informal in which case be very careful friends and ££ do not mix well