Demand for a home office soars in London & adding one could boost your property value by £41k
Across London, demand for homes with a home office has increased notably since the start of lockdown, up from 8% to 27%according to research by leading lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves.
Benham and Reeves looked at the number of homes listed online with a home office as a featured selling point and what proportion of these homes were already under offer or sold subject to contract as a percentage of all properties listed.
The data shows that currently, 27% of all stock listed with a home office has now been snapped up by London homebuyers, a huge increase on the 8% demand seen in March.
Not surprisingly, this demand is far higher in London’s more peripheral boroughs, accounting for the top 10 most in demand, with homebuyers looking to avoid a commute into the city with their own home office.
Bexley saw the highest demand for this property feature with 53% of properties with a home office already sold subject to contract or under offer. Hillingdon, Bromley, Croydon, Redbridge, Ealing, Havering, Waltham Forest, Haringey and Richmond also placed in the top 10 for home office, homebuyer demand.
How much does a home office cost?
If you’re holding tight on a move, a home office can be a fairly affordable addition to your home providing you have the additional space. For an average cost of £450 you can kit out your spare room with a desk, chair, PC, keyboard and mouse, while broadband will set you back roughly £32 a month, with the additional use of utilities coming in at £19.
While this total set up will cost you £501 for the initial first month, a fair chunk more than the average £238 cost of commuting in London, it soon starts to pay for itself with broadband and utility bills averaging £51 a month thereafter.
Adding a home office to your home
If you don’t have the extra space for a home office, investing in one could be a worthwhile addition to your home. A small extension to your property, such as an additional room, conservatory or loft conversion will set you back between £16-£21,000.
According to the Hiscox, such an extension could boost your property price by an average of 8.4%. On the current London house price of £485,794, that’s an increase of £40,807.
Alternatively you could add an outdoor office to your garden if you have the space. A basic cabin style outbuilding will start at around £4,000 but can climb to over £20,000 for the more sophisticated ones. However, these are unlikely to add as much value to your overall property’s value so an extension is money better spent if you do have the budget.
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Demand for properties with a home office listed on the portals
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Location / borough
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Total listings
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Still for Sale
|
SSTC or Under Offer
|
Demand
|
|
Bexley
|
55
|
26
|
29
|
53%
|
|
Hillingdon
|
411
|
245
|
166
|
40%
|
|
Bromley
|
137
|
83
|
54
|
39%
|
|
Croydon
|
200
|
124
|
76
|
38%
|
|
Redbridge
|
83
|
52
|
31
|
37%
|
|
Ealing
|
121
|
76
|
45
|
37%
|
|
Havering
|
205
|
129
|
76
|
37%
|
|
Waltham Forest
|
98
|
63
|
35
|
36%
|
|
Haringey
|
74
|
48
|
26
|
35%
|
|
Richmond upon Thames
|
80
|
53
|
27
|
34%
|
|
Barking and Dagenham
|
27
|
18
|
9
|
33.3%
|
|
Enfield
|
68
|
46
|
22
|
32.4%
|
|
Sutton
|
100
|
68
|
32
|
32.0%
|
|
Islington
|
48
|
33
|
15
|
31.3%
|
|
Lambeth
|
94
|
65
|
29
|
30.9%
|
|
Merton
|
103
|
73
|
30
|
29.1%
|
|
Greenwich
|
57
|
41
|
16
|
28.1%
|
|
Wandsworth
|
133
|
97
|
36
|
27.1%
|
|
Kingston upon Thames
|
139
|
103
|
36
|
25.9%
|
|
Brent
|
82
|
62
|
20
|
24.4%
|
|
Lewisham
|
55
|
42
|
13
|
23.6%
|
|
Hounslow
|
86
|
66
|
20
|
23.3%
|
|
Harrow
|
113
|
88
|
25
|
22.1%
|
|
Barnet
|
252
|
198
|
54
|
21.4%
|
|
Tower Hamlets
|
52
|
42
|
10
|
19.2%
|
|
Southwark
|
73
|
60
|
13
|
17.8%
|
|
Kensington and Chelsea
|
24
|
20
|
4
|
16.7%
|
|
Hammersmith and Fulham
|
37
|
31
|
6
|
16.2%
|
|
Newham
|
59
|
51
|
8
|
13.6%
|
|
Hackney
|
31
|
27
|
4
|
12.9%
|
|
Westminster
|
43
|
38
|
5
|
11.6%
|
|
Camden
|
36
|
33
|
3
|
8.3%
|
|
City of London
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
0.0%
|
|
Average at start of lockdown
|
8%
|
Change
|
19%
|
|
|
Average now
|
27%
|
|||
|
Average cost to set up basic home office
|
||||
|
Item
|
Average price
|
|||
|
£200
|
||||
|
£100
|
||||
|
£120
|
||||
|
£20
|
||||
|
£10
|
||||
|
Total
|
£450
|
|||
|
Monthly Running Cost Once Set Up
|
||||
|
Home Office
|
£51
|
|||
|
£238
|
||||
|
Saving
|
£187
|
|||
|
Extension
|
Cost
|
|||
|
£16-21,000
|
||||
|
£3,815-£28,000
|
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