It's that time of year again when we allow the staff and interns to take a little time off from tapping at their keyboards and head off for a well-earned break. We'll be back with you in a fortnight.
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A Cosy Garden Rooms garden office. With a hot tub. And a pond. Nice.
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New figures from specialist booking service BeachHuts.com suggest that beach huts leapt in value by just over 100%
between 2022 and 2023 in some coastal areas, costing just ove £123,500 on
average.
Lily Smith, a travel and holiday expert from the BeachHuts.com, said: "Our latest research has revealed huts and chalets are now soaring in popularity as the sunbather's equivalent to glamping. It's not only sixtysomethings, nostalgic for their 1970s childhoods. Our research has revealed the average age of beach hut users has plummeted in recent years as increasing numbers of young people realise the attractions of a home-from-home by the sea."
The Economist has also this week been asking the question 'Why are British beach huts so expensive?' and offers the dual conclusion that scarcity and sentimentality drive the market. Here's a snippet:
Why spend so much for a shack on the sand? Supply is very restricted, for one. Local councils limit the construction of new ones, so as not to spoil the view. Huts rarely come onto the market: they are handed down between generations and become yearly meeting places for communities of families. Ask owners, though, and they’ll also use words like “quintessential” and “iconic”, describing beach huts as part of the fabric of Britain’s history.
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Granted this is an American study, but it seems likely that it can be extrapolated usefully for shedworkers in the UK too. In brief, the American Time Use Survey, the annual report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, show that in 2023, 35 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at home on days they worked, and 73 percent of employed people did some or all of their work at their workplace.
But here's the really key bit, the share of employed people who spent time working at home on days worked was about the same in 2023 (35 percent) as in 2022 (34 percent). So people were still more likely to work at home in 2023 than in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic (35 percent, compared with 24 percent).
Other findings showed that workers with higher levels of education were more likely to work at home than were those who had less education, and that on days they worked in 2023, employed women and men were about equally likely to do some or all of their work at home, 36 percent and 34 percent, respectively.
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A useful guide in the Daily Telegraph looks at the best wifi extenders on the market (click link for full article). These kinds of surveys are generally of interest but this is particularly useful since the jounalist Christopher Hall is specifically testing them on his garden office as well as around his home. Long story short, he considers that the best overall is the TP-Link Deco BE65 pictured above, the best value is the Google Nest WiFi Pro, and the best budget is the TP-Link RE550 Mesh Wi-Fi Extender.
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IPSE, The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, has put together some thoughts on becoming a shedworker and buying a garden office. It's not too long and well worth reading (click the link above to take a look) but here's a pertinent section on its ongoing value to your property:
Investing in quality can pay off. The value it adds will vary depending on demand in the housing market, but it’s estimated a garden office can add 5-15% to the value of your home. If your property is currently valued at £300,000, you could see an increase of between £15,000 to £30,000 depending on the size and specification you’ve chosen. Obviously, you’ll tend to see more gains from a higher quality construction, and you could see more value if there’s another big rise in demand for home working spaces.
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The delightful Bonni Small model from Oxfordshire-based outbuildings specialist Bonni (who have a very attractive website). It's their smallest offering and perfect for one person shedworking as a garden office, although you may prefer one of their larger offerings. They describe it as a "perfect office space, pool house, garden room, yoga studio – whatever your heart desires". Options include a shower room and kitchenette.
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