Overview

Whilst working from home brings many advantages such as taking breaks whenever you like and so it can also cause many problems, these would include: -

• Living in the office, unless you have a designated space for work it can be very easy for work materials such as reports to join the normal array of household literature, making you feel like you are living at work, the only solution is to create a dedicated workspace (such as a spare bedroom, or converted summerhouse in the garden) at home. Remember as such a building, and its construction and fitting out is for business then the VAT element can be reclaimed.
• Paperwork, again unless a dedicated space is found your business and personal paperwork will become intertwined.
• Public liability insurance, if you are having visitors to your home office then this is a legal requirement.
• Data protection, most household routers may be suitable, however, we would suggest that you contact the Information Commissioners Office for the latest guidance on GDPR rules.
• Tax, whilst you can claim a percentage of your household bills against your tax liability you should also note that the HMRC may determine that any profit gained when you sell the property may be subject to capital gains tax.
• Mortgage provider, you may need the permission of your mortgage provider to run a business from home.
• House insurance, your home contents provider will need to be informed so that business assets may be covered, these are unlikely to be covered as standard under most household insurance policies.