A Guide to Your Dream Garden Studio
With all the uncertainty in the housing market and a recent Budget that’s big on austerity, many people who were thinking about moving to give themselves more space are now looking at a garden studio as a cheaper, easier alternative. Stuart Anderson from Hilton Garden Studios explains what steps to take to ensure you end up with a dream space in your garden.
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space to relax away from the kids, or for the kids to relax away from them. Secondly, will the studio be in use all year round or just as a summer house
Points to Consider Ask yourself what sort of services you’ll need. An office will undoubtedly require broadband
he first question to ask is ‘what am I going to use it for’? Some clients want to work from home, but in an office rather than at the kitchen table, whilst others want to use the extra
and phone capability and probably running water for a kitchenette and a loo. Bear in mind that someone from the council
will have to come and inspect the service trench at some point during the process. It’s usually a formality but still worth factoring in. How much garden space do you want to give
up? This will largely depend on what you intend to use it for but in any event I wouldn’t recommend building anything less than around 3m2. Remember that any building less than 2.5m high almost certainly won’t require planning permission, making the whole process much quicker.
credentials of the company. How many employees do they have? How many of your type of garden studios have they built and whereabouts in the country? How long has the company been established? Will they let you speak to some of their satisfied customers? The recession has brought new companies
Another crucial element is to check the
into the market some of which were no more than shed-makers a few months ago. Don’t be afraid of asking some probing questions. If the company is reputable, they will be happy to answer you. Always get a site survey before starting work. This will confirm if your plans are suitable for the space and raise any issues before it’s too late. Make sure you use a company that has
A garden studio is much cheaper, and a less intrusive building project, than an extension, but it still costs money. A small, no frills log cabin should cost around £6,000, whilst a large, well insulated affair will be closer to the £20,000 mark.
industry backed insurance. Any studio worth having comes with a 10 year guarantee that is still valid even if the firm goes under. Finally, and most importantly, budget properly.
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