Work From A Timber Home Office & Save £29,000

Could 2020 see a once in a lifetime step change in the way people work? Could the new norm be working from home? Find out how we think you can have a better quality of life, help the environment, add value to your home and still have your own office at home plus save £29,000.

We take a look at the real costs of building and setting up an Olson Home Office made from timber and compare these with the costs of commuting to London from the local station which has a journey time to the capital of around an hour.

The Olson Office Building we are using for this comparison is 16ft x 12ft which gives a nice amount of space for one person, has room for two and can easily have multiple uses. Clearly you may well want larger or smaller but this is one of our most popular middle of the road sizes.

We have added our own choice of specification, the same one that we have in our own office to make it comfortable and usable all year round.

The Office Olson Timber Home Office

16ft x 12ft with double glazed window and timber door £4,395 +VAT
Floor insulation Celotex £ 570 +VAT
Wall insulation and ply boarding £ 800 +VAT
Total Ex VAT £5,665
Total Inc VAT £6,798

Making Your Office Comfortable (Non Olson)

Electrical connection £ 300 Inc VAT
Lighting £ 100 Inc VAT
Air Source Heat Pump/ Air-conditioning £1,000 Inc VAT
Total Ex VAT £1,916
Total Inc VAT £2,300

Total real world cost of home office installation (Inc VAT) £9,098 Over the 30 year expected life span of a well maintained Olson Timber Building, that breaks down to £303.26 per annum.

The Commute

Commuting Costs

Season Ticket Chilham (Canterbury) to London St Pancras Season ticket including travelcard zones 1-6 £7,624 (prices correct on 8th May 2020 as shown on thetrainline.com)

The commute from Chilham is around 60 miles and takes a little under and hour, it uses the HS1 train but this is similarly priced to an intercity train from other destinations. We won't pretend that installing a home office is an option for everyone, but in terms of making your home/work balance better, adding value to your property, being able to avoid trains, tubes and buses we can’t really think of a better investment.

In our example scenario the pay pack period is 1 year and 4 month vs a season rail ticket.

Potential Saving From Working at Home In A Timber Office Building (unadjusted for ticket rises or inflation) 2 years £6,1505 years £29,02210 years £67,14215 years £105,262

Ignoring the longer term savings, even the short term savings are very substantial.

Things to consider Your Timber Office

Choosing where to position a timber building is an opportunity to get the best view out of the window, looking out over a valley, your favourite area of garden or for ease of access. We added an air source heat pump but for the ultimate in cosy cool think wood fired stove, which should be around the same price. The price we used assumed a base in situ for Olson to install the building, if not, a local builder can usually do this quite cost effectively and we can provide detailed specifications.

Planning permission will be a big question for many, and the answer varies depending on location in the country and the listed status of a building however generally timber outbuildings are covered by permitted development and may well not need formal planning consent. You can find more details on our planning page here.

Many timber office buildings are constructed in a garden or land adjoining your main house, access can be tight and for other manufacturers this is a show stopper. Every Olson Timber Office is a bespoke, built to your exact requirements so we can take this onboard. Offering a video chat review of the site before you order means we can asses all aspects of the site before our expert team arrive and adjust the way we make your building accordingly.

Need More Space? Using your own land for an office does not have to be limited to somewhere just for you. Set up an entire company, packing facility, studio or workshop from a timber building and get a huge cost saving on purchasing land. Timber offices are quick and easy to install getting you up and running super quickly.

One thing to keep in mind - larger timber buildings may well need planning consent.

Build your quote today - let us give you a bespoke price for exactly what you need, then compare it with commuting costs and decide for yourself.

A little note about the environmental impact of our buildings. We use FSC certified timber that is treated to maximise the lifespan of the building. Any off cuts from your building are recycled and by using only high quality fixings and fasteners we aim to exceed the 30 year life span mentioned above. We will not compromise on build quality an Olson timber building is built to last. All estimates we have used are exactly that, an estimate, every setting has different requirements and your personal season ticket may be higher or lower.

All figures are used for illustration purposes only and your should make personal enquiries for your specific requirements. Prices correct April 2020