One in seven UK workers is based at home

More than four million UK shedworkers and other homeworkers have ended the daily commute in favour of working from home, around one in seven UK workers. Analysis of ONS data carried out by Aviva Insurance indicates that Powys in Wales tops the homeworking table, closely followed by Kensington and Chelsea, and Brighton and Hove.

Workers in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland are least likely to be home-based according to the study. Scottish regions appear throughout the top 10 least common areas for home workers, with Aberdeen City and Inverclyde coming second and third on this list.

According to Aviva’s analysis, 14% of UK workers are home-based for their main job. This includes people who work in their home (5%), in the same grounds or building as their home (1%), or in different places, using their home as a base (8%). The ONS data shows the majority of people who work from home are self-employed, accounting for 60% of this group. Employed individuals make up 39% of home-workers, while the remaining small number are unpaid workers at the family home.

10 UK regions with highest proportion of home workers

UK Region	Percentage of workers who are primarily home-based
Powys	25.7%
Kensington and Chelsea	25.0%
Brighton and Hove	24.9%
Ceredigion	24.8%
Devon	24.6%
County of Herefordshire	24.6%
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly	23.8%
Camden	23.6%
Richmond upon Thames	22.5%
Pembrokeshire	22.1%

10 UK regions with lowest proportion of home workers

UK Region	Percentage of workers who are primarily home-based
West Dunbartonshire	5.6%
Aberdeen City	6.4%
Inverclyde	6.6%
Clackmannanshire	6.7%
Hartlepool	7.2%
Sandwell	7.3%
Leicester	7.3%
Dundee City	7.4%
North Lanarkshire	7.5%
Salford	7.6%

Adam Beckett, Product Director for Aviva UK General Insurance said: “Flexible working and home-working options are now part and parcel of many people’s lives. Advances in technology mean many individuals can work remotely in a whole host of careers, from web design to tutoring. And indeed, at Aviva we offer home-working options to many of our employees!

“If people are home-based, it’s important that they have the appropriate insurance for their business needs as well as their personal lives. Aviva covers home office equipment as part of our home insurance products, but people should inform their insurer if they plan to use their home for any business purpose other than office work. For example, people will usually require additional insurance if they store large amounts of stock or cash in their homes; and if customers visit their homes, the host will usually require public liability insurance. Similarly, if people use a vehicle for their work, they should make sure it’s insured for business use.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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