planning permission? working from home?

Wig

I don't know which forum this would be best suited in but I thought this forum might be the best to ask.

Do you need planning permission if you intend to take paying customers into your home for the following

Shiatsu massage/other type of massage (legitimate massage )

Meditation class

haircutting

I have never heard of this being required before, is it a case of people not knowing or ignoring the laws and it not being a big deal, because loads of people do this sort of thing from home eg haircutting etc.

But I was thinking, there might come a point where you have loads of customers all coming and going, parking could be an issue.

When I think of it like that, that's why I think that strictly permission must be required but they only take action if the complaints start to come in?

poppysarah

You will need permission from the council I assume if you are gonig to have regular visitors to your property.
Assuming you're not already doing it I'd def check what rules there are by ringing the council and asking.

If you can show it's limited numbers (ie: only you working from home, by appointment only, no signage outside perhaps, ) then your impact on the neighbours would be low and I don't see the council really having an issue. Especially if you have plenty of parking space available.
However if you wanted passing trade and to have another therapist working there then they would probably say no without strict guidelines etc.

Your deeds might also exclude you running a business from home.

Strapped

Business link have loads of info on this question and other things to consider when working from home:

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073960216

Ballymackeonan

The deeds exclusion can be very hit and miss - I used to work for Nationwide when all Northern Ireland deeds were kept in one of the Belfast offices, and checked deeds for my neighbour. He was planning to start a business directly across the road from me. His deeds said he couldn't run a business, but mine didn't have the exclusion, so I did a bit more digging. The development was done across two pieces of land, the boundary ran up the middle of the road, and the exclusion was on one side but not the other.

He's been running the business anyway for 15+ years with no problems.

If it's not going to annoy your neighbours, you should be OK, particularly if you get on well with them and let them know what you're planning to do.

Other things to check are your home insurance, and the amount you are able to claim for business use of home against tax.

googler

I thought you'd need 'change of use' permission under the planning regulations, but not sure if this still applies if the business is being run on a part-time basis.

Not far from me, a new owner wanted to convert a residential ground-floor flat to a chiropody/podiatry clinic, and put in the change of use application, which was met with a number of protests from the neighbours - can't recall them all, but one was objecting on the grounds of increased vehicle traffic in the area.....

fluffymuffy

Most councils require hairdressers to register with their Environmental Health dept. I don't know if this involves inspections - it probably does.

PasturesNew

You have to think about nuisance to neighbours. If, for example, your house is in a quiet residential area and your neighbour works shifts and sleeps during the day, it could be annoying if you have 2-3 cars/hour that pull up, chat loudly as they get out, slam their doors, laugh, come in, come out, laugh/chat, shout "bye", slam their doors and leave again. On the other hand, if you have a large driveway and are on a main road with passing buses/lorries constantly, then that level of noise is unlikely to be noticed by the same shift-working/sleeping neighbour ... however, the safety aspects of your clients pulling onto/off the main road would then be under consideration.

There's no one "yes/no" answer.