WHETHER you are after a ‘Shoffice’ for your garden where you can work from home in style or you are after a glam-tastic summer house retreat that will make your neighbours green with envy, it seems the demand for garden rooms since Covid-19 are growing at record rates.

One Basildon company says people are forgoing their annual holiday in order to pay for a garden cabin where they can either work, or as a space to keep their kids safe and off the streets.

Figures reveal that 47 per cent of households across the UK spent money on garden improvements during lockdown, with a total of £25.9billion spent on enhancing ‘outdoor rooms’ with lavish lighting, furniture, canopies, pizza ovens, hot tubs and more.

READ MORE:

The pandemic has brought a lot of changes to our lives - one of them is the astronomical trend of the ‘shoffice’ – a shed/office. After all there’s only so long that couples can share a kitchen table or you can bang away on your laptop within the bleak walls of your spare room. With more flexible working arrangements set to be embraced post-pandemic, more people than ever are looking for a peaceful space to work at home.

That means the fashion for garden rooms and cabins has taken off in a big way. And we’re not talking giving a shack a lick of paint. These days, garden rooms come complete with everything you could need – trendy desks, WiFi, plug points, mounted flat-screen TVs and atmospheric lighting .

Basildon-based company Garden Rooms 365 provide a bespoke garden room installation service – and it’s no surprise they’ve been busier than ever, building everything from garden rooms across Essex to be used as luxury outhouses, to gyms, teenage hangout and gorgeous bars.

Mark Pannell, director and owner of the 25-year-old business explained: “We have been extremely busy and very grateful for this.

“A lot of people are now investing into their outdoor spaces and utilising them as they have the money they have saved up throughout lockdown.

“We have had a lot of clients say that they are using the money they have saved up without going on holiday – it has also made them realise in the first lockdown how much they use their gardens.

“The garden is the biggest part of the property which is not used to its fullest potential.”

But as Mark explained, people are wanting a lot more than just a place to work. He said: “We have found that a lot of people are asking for bars, steam rooms, saunas and jacuzzi rooms in their gardens.

“We thought that it would be offices, however, bars are the most popular ones at the moment.

“The most-requested room we have been asked to build is a room for families and children and teenagers to use as a safe space in their garden to ensure they socialise in a safe environment.”

One thing the pandemic has shown us is that most of us don’t make the most of our outdoor areas – and even the smallest space can be given a creative makeover. In addition, the ability to use our gardens throughout all four seasons is now more important than ever.

Mark said: “Absolutely we don’t make enough use of our gardens and outdoor spaces compared to people on the continent.

“It is a wasted space and not a lot of people understand or realise that their garden can be used for so many reasons.

“They are a great area of use in the summer, however our rooms are fully insulated, they can be used throughout the year – hence our name, Garden Room 365.’’