Research carried out by Enterprise Nation, a website providing information to UK homeworkers, has confirmed that having a home or garden office can increase the value of your property.

A comparison of house prices, undertaken in association with Homefinder UK, has confirmed that it really does pay to work from home with increases in property values ranging from the smallest differential of £2,450 through to a whopping £80,000. This is the difference in the amount offered for two similar houses located in the same area; one with a home office and one without.

The same value-added applies to having a garden office. With figures sourced from garden office provider, Henley Garden Buildings Ltd, the residual value of the garden building can add anything from 3-5% to the value of your property. In some cases estate agents have attributed a value increase more than twice the cost of the garden office.

Nick Finn of Sworn & Co said “Lots more Chiswick residents work from home, even if it’s just a couple of days a week. People are increasingly refurbishing their properties to include a home office from which to run their businesses. The fact that this also adds value to the property is a bonus. I grew up in a house in Chiswick where my father worked from home – the dining room doubled up as his office for thirteen years. The trend for having dedicated office space at home is relatively recent.”

Sworn has a four-bedroom semi-detached family home, with a converted garage at the end of the garden. This increases the internal space of the house by almost 150 square feet. The owners park in the residents bays in front of the house. The office is broadband enabled, air-conditioned, alarmed, double-glazed, and has plenty of storage. “The current owner runs an internet design company from here and the new owners could be operating from a fully-functioning workspace straight away. This has raised the value of the property by around £25,000 compared to similar properties in the road without an office.”

For more information contact Nick Finn, Sworn & Co, nick.finn@swornandco.com

June 14, 2006