Can I Run a Business From Home if I Rent?

Renting doesn’t have to rule out starting a business from your kitchen table, spare room, or garden office. But before you print business cards with your home address on them, there are a few things worth sorting out first. From what your tenancy agreement actually says to whether your local council needs to know, here’s what to check.

Can I run a business from my rented home?

Usually yes, but with conditions.

The introduction of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 puts the law broadly on your side, and makes it much easier for landlords to agree to a tenant’s “home business” without it affecting their tenancy rights. As long as it’s the kind of low-key low-impact operation you’d reasonably expect someone to run from a house or flat, such as making artisan goods and selling them on Etsy, then refusing without good reason is harder to justify.

That said though, you still need to follow some legal rules. For example:

• You’ll usually need your landlord’s written permission
• Your business needs to stay secondary to the home being lived in
• And depending on what you do, you might also need to think about council rules, insurance, and (in some buildings) restrictions that go beyond your tenancy agreement altogether

Check your tenancy agreement first

Before you do anything else, dig out your tenancy agreement and see what it actually says about business use. Some agreements ban it outright, some are silent on the subject, and some set out a process for requesting permission.

If your agreement does contain a blanket ban, you should still ask your landlord directly. That 2015 Act we mentioned means a court could take a dim view of that clause, particularly if refusing outright wouldn’t be “reasonable” because your business is genuinely low impact. Even so, it doesn’t mean you should ignore it and hope for the best.

Always ask first. If your landlord does agree, have them put it in writing, and change the tenancy agreement to reflect what you’ve agreed upon. This will save arguments and cover your back.

Do I need to tell my landlord about my business from home?

Short answer, yes, always tell your landlord, even if you think your business is too small to matter. A few reasons why:

• Your tenancy could be at risk: Running a business, even a minor one, without permission can technically breach your tenancy and give your landlord grounds to act on it
• Insurance gets complicated: If something goes wrong and your landlord’s insurer finds out you were running an undisclosed business from the property, it could affect any claim
• It isn’t as scary as you think! Most landlords are relaxed about someone doing freelance work or running an online shop from a spare room, as long as it doesn’t affect the property or the neighbours. Remember, asking upfront is usually much easier than explaining after the fact.

Types of home businesses and their impact

Not all home businesses are equal in a landlord’s eyes, and the type of business you’re running will shape how straightforward this whole process is.

Low impact

At the low-impact end, you’ve got things like freelance writing, being a virtual assistant, bookkeeping, graphic design, or consultancy. Work where clients never need to set foot in the property, there’s no extra footfall, noise, or wear and tear, and your setup is basically a laptop and a spare room.

These are the businesses the 2015 rules were designed to make easier, and landlords rarely have grounds to object.

Higher impact

At the other end though, you’ve got businesses that change how the property is actually used. For example, a hair salon in the front room, a dog grooming service in the garden, or anything involving regular visitors, deliveries, specialist equipment, or noise.

These raise more questions – about wear and tear, about neighbours, about whether the property still counts as “mainly residential” – and are far more likely to need your landlord’s explicit sign-off, plus a look at the council rules below.

Legal and insurance considerations

Renters insurance vs. business insurance

Your landlord’s buildings insurance and your own contents or renters insurance are both built around the property being used as a home. They typically don’t cover business equipment, business-related visitors, or liability if a client or courier is injured on the property.

If you’re running a business from home, it’s worth looking at:

• Public liability insurance: If anyone (clients, delivery drivers, suppliers) visits the property because of your business
• Professional indemnity insurance: If you’re giving advice or a service someone could claim against
• Equipment or stock cover: If your standard contents policy doesn’t stretch to business-use laptops, tools, or inventory

You should also tell your existing insurer what you’re doing at the property, even for a low-key business. Undisclosed business use is exactly the kind of thing that can unravel a claim later.

Local council rules, permits, and licences

For most home-based freelancers and small online businesses, there’s nothing extra to register with the council beyond the usual business registration with HMRC or Companies House.

Working from home generally doesn’t need planning permission, as long as the business stays “incidental” to the property being a home (no major change in traffic, noise, or how the building’s used).

Where it can get more involved:

• Certain trades or services: Food businesses, treatments involving clients’ health or appearance, businesses handling animals – these often need specific licences or registration with your local council, regardless of whether you’re renting or own the property
• A noticeable change in footfall, parking, noise, or deliveries: These can tip your home business into needing planning permission, because it starts to look less like “living here” and more like “running a business here”
• Business rates can sometimes apply: This is payable on the part of your home used for business, on top of your usual Council Tax, particularly if that space is used exclusively for work and clients visit regularly

If you’re not sure where your business sits, it’s worth a quick call to your local council’s planning department before you start rather than after a neighbour complains.

Additional restrictions in apartment complexes or shared buildings

Renting a flat or an apartment adds another layer to check: the building’s own rules, on top of your tenancy agreement and the law.

Leasehold and shared-building arrangements often come with their own restrictions on business use, sometimes stricter than what an individual landlord would ask for, covering things like visitors, deliveries, noise, or use of communal areas and parking.

If you’re in a block of flats or a managed building, you should check whether:

• The lease or building rules mention business use at all
• There’s a managing agent or freeholder who needs to give separate permission, on top of your landlord
• Any restrictions on visitors, signage, deliveries, or use of shared spaces like lifts, hallways, or parking

Skipping this step is one of the more common ways renters run into trouble – your landlord might be perfectly happy for you to run a business from the flat, but the building’s own rules say otherwise.

Next steps

Running a business from a rented home is usually possible, and for most freelance, digital, and service-based businesses, it’s a fairly straightforward conversation with your landlord rather than a legal minefield.

The key steps are the same every time; check your tenancy agreement, get permission in writing, think honestly about how your business affects the property, and make sure your insurance and any council requirements are sorted before you start.

Once the business itself is up and running, the accounting side is where we can help – from registering as self-employed to staying on top of Self Assessment and knowing what you can claim for working from home.

Learn more about our online accounting services for businesses. Call 020 3355 4047 and get an instant online quote.