You need to enquire with you local council as they all seem to be different. When I asked I was fine working from home as long as I had not changed the structure of my house to accommodate my salon i.e. put in a new entrance door etc. As long as I did not lock the room up when not in use to seal it off from the rest of my house? As long as my couch was moveable and not static i.e it could be folded up or was on wheels. Outside, as long as I did not interfere with my neighbours parking and entrance to their house. I was also asked if I would be working full time from home 9 - 5 daily and if I would be employing anyone to work there as well or rent my room out at any time. There was no health and saftey checks providing I did not perform piercing or tattoos.
I was told that my conversation was documented by the department that I had made the phone call informing them of my intention to work from home and that they had said I was fine to go ahead and work from home and no inspection was necessary.
A friend in the same county as me, but a different local council was asked if she used the room for personal use as well or if it was a dedicated salon, because if she said she did not use the room for normal home use when she was not using it is as a salon she would have to pay business rates which I am guessing is why I was asked if my couch was static and if I locked the room off from the rest of the house? I don't know if this would make a huge difference as they can only charge by the size of your room and then adjust your normal council tax accordingly I was told?
I have read other threads on here that have discussed this issue too, might be worth searching under "working from home"?
Good luck, hth, x
