Post-lockdown working from home

Roodle47

Does anyone know of any grants or assistance for people having to adapt their home to incorporate office space?...companies are saving money on office space but we're having to fork out on making a home office.

Like many others, we worked from home over lockdown but for my other half, it is still the case that he works from home full-time with no sign of that changing (beforehand, he worked in an office full-time...and cycled so it's not even that we're saving money on car/petrol). We had always considered converting our garage into a living space at some point whenever we might have had the funds but now it seems that changing it into an office space makes more sense and should be a priority. At the moment, he works from the dining table...not always ideal. It just doesn't make sense to me that the employer will be saving big chunks of money but we're expected to pay out. 

Don't get me wrong, WFH has its perks but it would be helpful if we knew of any assistance available before trying to figure out how we can make it happen. 

Roodle47

Does anyone know of any grants or assistance for people having to adapt their home to incorporate office space?...companies are saving money on office space but we're having to fork out on making a home office.

Like many others, we worked from home over lockdown but for my other half, it is still the case that he works from home full-time with no sign of that changing (beforehand, he worked in an office full-time...and cycled so it's not even that we're saving money on car/petrol). We had always considered converting our garage into a living space at some point whenever we might have had the funds but now it seems that changing it into an office space makes more sense and should be a priority. At the moment, he works from the dining table...not always ideal. It just doesn't make sense to me that the employer will be saving big chunks of money but we're expected to pay out. 

Don't get me wrong, WFH has its perks but it would be helpful if we knew of any assistance available before trying to figure out how we can make it happen. 

propertyhunter

Is he mandated to work from home, and not have any option to go into the office? Did he sign a new contract accepting this arrangement? 

Are you asking this question hoping that there are grants to support conversion of your garage, or to offset energy/utility costs (which can be claimed from your partner's employer up to £312 per year)?

user1977

Not sure why anybody other than your employer ought to be subsidising the costs?

Racky_Roo

You can claim tax relief on working from home but that's about it.
I would suggest he speaks to his employer about paying for equipment to work from home and negotiate a pay rise as you'll be worse off heating the house all day.
I think most employers are thinking the majority of people are happy saving on commuting time, not buying lunches and paying for travel so your OH is probably in the minority of being worse off.

Roodle47

@propertyhunter As far as I know, there has been no new contract (HR seems to be non-existent...) he has taken the necessary steps for the tax relief but it doesn't amount to much, so my question was more so in regards to financial support to help with converting a living space into an office. Maybe best to sort a new contract as you've suggested. 

@user1977 I agree...I guess I'm also interested to know if anyone has been in a similar position where their employer has supported this. 

pinkteapot

As above, the key point is that if he no longer has the option to go to an office, then that's a change to the employment contract he signed up to. He should discuss with the employer if he's not happy with it (negotiate for a one-off payment or salary increase due to increased costs). 

As an aside, I can't work out how employers are getting round their DSE (display screen equipment) responsibilities with people working from home. In the office you had to have a desk and chair set up that gave you correct posture, but at home you can slumped on a sofa for 8 hours? Crazy!

Roodle47

Thanks @Racky_Roo he's taken the necessary steps for tax relief but doesn't seem to amount to much. I agree with your suggestion on chatting to employer, thank you 

user1977

Roodle47 said:

@user1977 I agree...I guess I'm also interested to know if anyone has been in a similar position where their employer has supported this. 

Mine has supplied (or lent) IT kit and some furniture, but I haven't heard of any employers going further than that. How much "conversion" of living space is actually needed?

Roodle47

@pinkteapot thank you for your reply - I will pass on your advice around his contract and increased costs. 

That part escapes me also. I know a few people over lockdown whose employers got them really well setup at home and had office equipment delivered to them but neither of ours did anything other than send an occupational health form. I was even pregnant during lockdown and asked for a proper desk chair to be organised...two years on, I'm still waiting...

Roodle47

user1977 said:

Roodle47 said:

@user1977 I agree...I guess I'm also interested to know if anyone has been in a similar position where their employer has supported this. 

Mine has supplied (or lent) IT kit and some furniture, but I haven't heard of any employers going further than that. How much "conversion" of living space is actually needed?

Well, the only space that we could make into a functioning office is the garage. It's still very much a garage so we're going to have to fully convert it, i.e. insulate, plaster, fit a window, sort electrics. And then of course fitting it out with a workspace. I don't expect the cost of this to be covered fully but it's a substantial cost that we didn't think we'd have to plan for at this point in time.