Garden Office

ToneControl

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Council tax = Poll tax by a different name.

I know a couple who had some portakabins in the rather large garden of their cute country cottage. The council insisted they pay the tax appropriate for a house twice the size of the cottage they were living in.

That's why I brought it up.

@ossyrocks and @TTony are right about there being rules concerning the height of the building and its distance not only from your house but also your boundaries.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/outbuildings/miniguide

explains all the current rules

Bear in mind that for this year and next, you can build huge extensions and conservatories without planning permission

ToneControl

AFAIK insulating wooden summerhouses/log cabins presents a few challenges, since if you have the moisture barrier in the wrong place, (e.g. - I think - pushing Kingspan up against the wood), you can get condensation in places that hurt the wood. Some companies use a thin foil-based insulation that is supposedly used effectively a lot in wooden houses in North America, can't remember the trade name

monquixote

Just priced up one of these 

http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/log-cabins/premiumplus-rhine-w4-0m-x-d3-0m

4x3m with all the options including double glazing, full insulation and shingles and it comes to about £4K assuming you build it yourself which is largely dependent on how easy it is because I'm frigging clueless.

Seems fairly reasonable.

monquixote

Hmm these are very interesting. 

http://www.greenretreats.co.uk/

Though they are very expensive at £10K ish they install them and do the foundations and they include carpets etc. 

They also look pretty groovy. 

Fretwired

monquixote said:

Hmm these are very interesting. 

http://www.greenretreats.co.uk/

Though they are very expensive at £10K ish they install them and do the foundations and they include carpets etc. 

They also look pretty groovy. 

They are very good .. a client of mine has one which is why I included a link in my post above.

Ossyrocks

monquixote said:

Just priced up one of these 

http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/log-cabins/premiumplus-rhine-w4-0m-x-d3-0m

4x3m with all the options including double glazing, full insulation and shingles and it comes to about £4K assuming you build it yourself which is largely dependent on how easy it is because I'm frigging clueless.

Seems fairly reasonable.

I'm no joiner, but a good friend of mine is, he gave me a hand assembling mine, but I reckon it could be done with my limited knowledge of woodworking too.

Once you've got the base square, the walls go up in quick time, no nailing or screws required. It stacks up like lego with each piece interlocking with the next. Once you've stacked up the outer skin to the top of where the windows go, you then start stacking up the inner skin to the same height. Then the windows drop in from the top and you finish stacking above them. The whole thing stays put under its own weight. The kingspan slides down into the voids from the top. If you can build a lego Millenium Falcon, you can build this.

duotone

http://www.screwfix.com/c/outdoor-gardening/garden-buildings/cat840634 was looking at some of these on the screwfix website the other day. Not sure what the quality is like but might be worth a look for some different options.

luscombe

I'm pretty sure if it's 30 square metres or less, and there's no sleping accomadation, it falls under permitted development. There are other rules about sistance away from your boundary etc, but I'm sure you can comply with that.

jonnyburgo

I

Phil_aka_Pip

hobbit holes have ROUND doors!