Can I sell out of my home?

wovonb

I am thinking of starting a business selling from my home to people I invite. Do I have anything legal wise to consider for this or is it like people having Avon parties etc?

ukbill69

If council find out im sure they will want to change your house into commercial property status and then start charging rates.

McKneff

You will also probably have to inform your mortgage company and your house insurance.

And have public liability insurance.

What is it that youwill be selling

antrobus

ukbill69 wrote: »

If council find out im sure they will want to change your house into commercial property status and then start charging rates.

If the council 'find out', they're far more likely to issue an enforcement notice to prevent the premises from being used for commercial purposes.

wovonb wrote: »

I am thinking of starting a business selling from my home to people I invite....

What will the neighbours say? That's how councils usually 'find things out'.

property.advert

Depends upon what the business is. A consultancy over the net will not alarm anyone as no-one will know whereas selling hot dogs from a smelly trailer in the front garden is likely to cause offence.

Savvy_Sue

ukbill69 wrote: »

If council find out im sure they will want to change your house into commercial property status and then start charging rates.

I believe they can only do this for any rooms used exclusively for business purposes: if you are holding Avon parties in your lounge but still watch TV in there at other times you should be fine. But see below.

antrobus wrote: »

What will the neighbours say? That's how councils usually 'find things out'.

especially if you cause any 'nuisance' - lots of cars parked where there's inadequate parking; noise on arriving or leaving; more rubbish than a normal domestic property spilling out of your bins etc etc etc.

property.advert wrote: »

Depends upon what the business is. A consultancy over the net will not alarm anyone as no-one will know whereas selling hot dogs from a smelly trailer in the front garden is likely to cause offence.

Exactly.

Couple of further things to consider: if you rent your home you need to get permission from a social landlord (council or Housing Association) to run a business from home, and the 'nuisance' will be key to whether they give permission or not. If it's a private landlord the same things will apply, but you may have more problems.

If you don't rent but have a mortgage, you need to tell your mortgage provider (and they may increase the rates).

Either way you need to tell your insurer.

If you're storing stock at home, expect to have problems getting cover on a domestic policy.

Do you need cover for visitors tripping on the front path / inside your home?

In short, while you may be able to do this, it's not as simple as getting stock and inviting your mates round.

savemoney

You might need to change your home insurance for use for business purposes