The New Home Based Business Package: Good or Bad for Commercial Office Space?

On Friday the 15^th of August new measures were announced to encourage burgeoning home based business in the UK. The announcement was made at a summit attended by the Prime Minister, David Cameron.

There are already 2.9m home based small businesses contributing £300 billion a year to the economy and the number is growing. The estimation is that around 70% of new businesses start off in the home. In order to support this rise in numbers Enterprise Nation are to undertake in depth research into Britain’s flourishing home based businesses.

The package is focussed on amending planning regulation, rented housing and business rates to allow those wishing to set up a home based business more freedom and less hurdles.

New legislation regarding rented property means that landlords can be assured that agreeing to allow a tenant to run a home based business will not undermine their residential tenancy agreement.

The government have updated planning guidance to make it clear that planning permission is not normally needed to run a business from home. In addition, amendments have been made to ensure that the majority of home based businesses do not attract business rates.

Some would expect the new package to have a negative effect on those providing commercial office space and serviced offices. However, research has suggested the opposite. In the short term, SMBs may be inclined to stay in home based offices at the point of start-up but many inevitably look for office environments as they expand.

The change in legislations should ensure an influx of new business in the UK, as the government try to bolster the UK’s reputation as a fast growing economy again.

In a statement from the British Property Federation, Liz peace stated:

‘At least some of the ‘kitchen table’ businesses of today will expand and become the commercial property space-seekers of tomorrow. We therefore have an interest in ensuring that the law and our sector is adapting to modern business practice and supporting UK entrepreneurs at every stage of their business development’.

Lastly, studies have estimated that if one in ten of every home based office employed a single person it would create 300,000 jobs. Another step on the road to expansion and a serviced office a few years down the line.