At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many offices were shut and employees were forced to quickly adapt to working from home. While at first many employees found that chaotic, people soon adapted to remote working and discovered the benefits of working from home. For this reason, the demand for home offices has significantly risen in the UK, as many people wish to continue working from home for the long-term. In this blog post, we explain where to start with a house extension for a home office and outline the important things you must consider before you begin to build your home office.

With most offices closed for months as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, homeworking has quickly become the norm. Even as businesses begin to reopen, this looks set to continue. Recent surveys suggest that the majority of UK office workers now favour either a partial or complete switch to homeworking, with many reluctant to give up their newfound flexibility and escape from the daily commute.

If you're looking to build a sustainable and environmentally friendly home, it's essential that you consider the materials you use, as well as how you're going to use them. A long-term plan is required to keep your home comfortable and beautiful while using only ecologically friendly materials.

Fortunately, there are many options available to you, and many ways you can achieve your goals.

If you are thinking about improving your home, such as adding a single-storey extension to the rear of your property or extending your garage, then you will need architectural drawings. These drawings will be used by a range of different professionals including builders, electricians and plumbers.

This is why it is vital that they are clear, concise and accurate.

Finding rural land on which to construct a new property is becoming increasingly difficult, with planning laws tending to restrict the development of green-belt locations. However, transforming a former agricultural building can be a fantastic way to create a bespoke home, which is filled with character, class and unique features that you won’t find anywhere else.

With these single-storey barn conversion ideas, you’ll be well on your way to creating the home of your dreams.

If you’re planning on designing your own custom-build home, then you’ve probably considered a wide range of factors - from materials and costs, to suppliers and timeframes. But for eco-conscious individuals, building an environmentally friendly home is at the top of the list. In the UK, the best way to go green with your home is to build it yourself – allowing full control over a range of different factors and elements to make your house more ‘eco’.

Space can be limited in the average UK home. Whether it’s down to a growing family, your interior aspirations or simply catering for your tastes, a bigger house or property is the goal for many homeowners. But while moving into a pre-existing, larger property is a solution for some, for others leaving your first home – or ‘forever house’ – can be a challenge. That’s where extensions come in, providing an ideal way to expand your space while keeping all your comforts close to home.

When planning any build, it is important to maximise the use of available light. This needs to be an integral part of the planning process, taking into account the use and placement of windows, doors and skylights, alongside the design of the internal layout.

A wraparound extension can add much-needed space to your existing property. These L-shaped extensions essentially combine a front or rear extension with a side return extension.

Wraparound extensions are typically more complex to construct than standard side or rear extensions, although they offer greater volumes of space and complete flexibility. With a wraparound extension, you’ll find it much easier to re-order the layout of your entire home to suit your requirements. With a bit of clever engineering, you can even remove entire corners of current space to breathe life into your home with an attractive and vast open-plan living space.

It's late-January and winter shows no signs of ending. Most of us are feeling the cold, and with fuel costs rising every year, it's no surprise everyone's feeling the pinch. If you want to make your pennies go further, it's worth optimising your home to ensure you're not paying for heat which goes right out the windows. Follow these top tips to ensure your home is designed to keep the heat in this winter.