How much do garden offices cost?
This is always one of the first questions buyers ask us or search for on this site, and in this article, we will try to give you an idea of garden office costs.
The price of a garden office will depend on its size, specification level, and whether you choose a modular design or a commission a bespoke design. There is no rule of thumb that an x-sized building will cost x-amount.
Garden office companies used to be good at listing prices on their websites, but it has become more common to see POA next to examples of their offices over the last year or so.
The reason for this change is twofold. Firstly, since the BREXIT and the pandemic, material prices have risen considerably, and at times, key materials have fluctuated in price on a weekly basis, so keeping lots of prices updated on websites and in brochures is time-consuming. The other reason is that they are drawing you into their marketing funnel by inviting you to contact them for a price guide!
To help you, we have explored the market, playing mystery shopper to identify prices for different size garden offices. Gathering our findings into a massive spreadsheet, we are able to give you the market averages for different size buildings.
Our findings will give you an idea of the average prices, which will be helpful when setting your budget. The figures include VAT and installation utilising the company's standard foundation option. They do not include delivery and the final electrical connection to the mains supply.
Guide prices for garden offices
Typically a small, one-person office around 2.4m x 2.4m square, with insulation, house quality doors & windows, and wired with sockets and lights will start at about £8,000, including VAT. You can expect a good quality office that you can use all year round for this price, but it will be a basic design with few customisation options. Prices go upwards from there with prices of around £22,000, including VAT for a high-spec Cedar clad design.
On cheaper ranges of garden offices, you'll need to check with the supplier as to whether the foundation is included in the price quoted. In some cases, it's not, and while the supplier will undertake the work, it's an additional cost.
Garden offices go upwards in price from this £8,000 starting point, we were recently asked to review some quotes that were over £150,000, but that was a large, complex building with all the bells and whistles!
Budgets of £20,000 to £30,000 will buy you a reasonably sized building with favourite design features such as floor to ceiling glazing, cedar cladding and a plastered interior.
Your budget will go up by specifying high spec features such as bi-fold doors rather than the standard French door options.
You generally will pay more for highly insulated garden offices than their less insulated counterparts. While the initial outlay can be off-putting, it's worth it in the long run as you will be more comfortable when working in the office, and it will cost you less to heat and cool, which is super important with energy costs as they are.
In our opinion, investing in a building with a smaller footprint but a high specification level is a better long-term investment than a large building with basic insulation levels and less durable external materials.
How much do bespoke garden offices cost?
When you ask a bespoke garden office company for a guide price, they will often quote you a price range by the square meter of the building footprint. With a custom-made design, you can have so much input into the design and materials used, and these choices will dictate the final price.
As part of our price survey, we found prices between £1,400 per sqm and £3,000 per sqm, including VAT quoted.
You will find that smaller garden offices have a higher price per square meter than a larger ones.
The can be hidden costs
It is not just the building you need to budget for when buying a garden office. There can often be hidden costs such as delivery and connecting the electrics to the mains supply. We have written a guide exploring the costs you need to budget for when buying a garden office.