Garden Rooms and Home Offices in Sussex

A family business that started in February 1985 as Bakers Timber Buildings, with a show centre at Bolney Grange Business Park near Haywards Heath. It builds insulated garden rooms, offices, studios, gyms, pool rooms and sauna rooms, both made to measure and from two ready-designed ranges: the Jay office and studio, in 18 sizes, and the Kite garden room, in 22 sizes.

The rooms are timber-framed with insulated walls, floor and ceiling. The outside is covered in Medite Tricoya Extreme (MTX) boards on the sides you see and fire-rated cement board elsewhere, under a rubber (EPDM) roof, with house-standard uPVC or aluminium doors and windows. Bakers says all its offices stay within the 2.5 metre height limit for planning, including the base.

Its July 2026 price lists are the most detailed of the six. The smallest Jay office (2.3 x 1.3 m) is £9,685 installed with its roof; a concrete base adds £1,688 (or £1,956 for its steel-and-timber base), electrics £2,563, internet £632 and painting and filling inside £469. The largest Jay office (3.5 x 2.5 m) is £15,049. Jay studios run from £23,589 to £37,088, and Kite rooms from £25,291 to £48,299 before the base, electrics and painting. All prices include VAT at 20% and depend on a survey, in person or by video.

From order to finished room usually takes three to six months, which Bakers says is mostly its order book. Once on site, the work takes two to four weeks from digging the base to handing over a painted, finished room. The 10-year guarantee needs an inspection of the room every year to stay valid.

Based on South Road in Haywards Heath and working in Sussex since 2008, Miniature Manors builds made-to-measure garden rooms, offices, gyms, studios, music studios and annexes, plus four ready-designed models in a range of sizes. It also covers Surrey, Kent and South London.

The rooms are made with traditional carpentry, insulated in the walls, ceiling and floor for use all year, and stand on ground screws (large metal screws wound into the soil instead of a concrete slab). Most have a rubber (EPDM) roof with a 25-year warranty.

Its FAQ page gives a starting price of £15,400 including VAT for a 2 x 2 metre room; the homepage puts it at from £15,000, with the final cost depending on size and specification. Wiring inside the room is included, with a certificate, but the cable from the house and the decorating are priced separately. A £500 deposit, fully refundable, holds a start date.

Waiting times run from four weeks to four months, depending on the time of year. An average garden room then takes about two to three weeks to finish; larger projects and annexes take four to twelve weeks. Miniature Manors gives a 10-year structural warranty against building defects.

Createspace was set up in 2020 by local builder Luke Dixon. Its registered office is in Hassocks and its website describes it as based in Brighton; it works across Brighton, Hove, Lewes, Worthing, Eastbourne, Hassocks, Horsham and beyond.

Each room is made to measure and built by hand in the garden, using a timber frame the firm says is inspired by traditional New Zealand methods. Walls, roof and floor are insulated and double glazing is standard. The outside can be cedar or other timber, composite boards or metal, with a flat, sloping or planted (green) roof.

A bespoke room starts from £15,000; the website does not say whether that includes VAT, though its quotes show VAT at 20% and cover the full installation. Its costs assume the garden is ready for the base to go in. The final price depends on size, specification, insulation, services and groundworks. Createspace says it sends a quote within five days with an agreed start date.

Its pages give slightly different build times; taken together, expect two to five weeks on site, depending on the garden. We did not find a published guarantee length, so ask for it in writing.

Timber Rooms works from Pound Lane in Upper Beeding and says it has designed and built garden rooms since 2012. It makes garden rooms, home offices, studios, gyms, pool houses, saunas, golf-simulator rooms and annexes, using the same kind of timber frame used to build houses.

Rooms come fully insulated, plastered, decorated and floored, with cedar, larch or composite boards on the outside and house-standard doors and windows with five-point locks. An online tool on its website gives a rough price as you choose the size and finish.

Its price guide starts at £17,151 including VAT for the 3.5 x 2.5 m Stephenson and gives three more examples: the 4 x 3 m Latchmere from £22,869, the 5 x 3 m Skelly from £29,586 and the 7.5 x 3.5 m Thompson from £36,209, all including VAT. These include the outer boards, insulation, a plastered and decorated inside, flooring, lights and sockets. Groundworks, awkward access and changes to the design are quoted separately after a survey.

The average build takes three weeks, from two weeks for a small room to two months for a full annexe. It does not publish a waiting time. Payments are made weekly during the build, with the last 5% due on completion. Each finished room has a 10-year structural guarantee as standard, plus a three-month period for putting right minor issues.

A husband-and-wife firm with an office on Hove's high street, A Room in the Garden is led by an architect. It designs made-to-measure garden rooms, offices, gyms, studios, guest rooms and annexes, and has three ready-designed ranges: PRIMO (nine versions), CARGO (with a dark grey corrugated outside) and TETTO (with a roof that overhangs the walls). It works across the South East and further afield.

Its buildings are made from SIPs (structural insulated panels: factory-made panels with insulation sandwiched between two boards). It uses 100 to 125 mm panels for garden rooms and thicker 125 to 150 mm panels for rooms meant for living in, which hold heat better. Foundations are ground screws, piles or pedestals, under a rubber (EPDM) roof.

On its range pages, the smallest CARGO is from £19,220, the smallest PRIMO from £19,975 (the range runs up to from £43,975) and the smallest TETTO from £24,355 (up to from £53,759). Its overview page shows slightly different figures, so check the price on your quote. The firm says its website prices include VAT and that labour costs are fixed. A £750 booking fee secures the order, and half the cost is invoiced six weeks before work starts.

Expect six to eight weeks' wait after ordering. Small ready-designed buildings then take two to three weeks to install, medium ones four to six weeks and large custom buildings six to twelve weeks; the outer shell of the building is up in two to seven working days. It gives a 10-year structural guarantee, and the roof covering has a 25-year warranty.

A family business with a Hove address that works across Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent. It builds garden rooms (its studio rooms are generally around 3 x 3 m), SIP extensions and, above all, garden annexes, mostly to a height of 2.5 metres.

Rooms stand on ground screws, and the firm says all foundation costs are included. The outside is Hardie Plank composite boards as standard, with redwood or cedar at extra cost, and rooms are fully insulated with electric heaters. Groundworks to connect services are extra and depend on a survey.

It publishes prices for annexes only. A 6 x 4 m studio annexe is from £60,000, a one-bedroom annexe (7 x 5 m) from £75,000, a one-bedroom L-shaped annexe (8 x 7 m) from £85,000, a two-bedroom L-shaped annexe (11 x 7 m) from £100,000 and a one-bedroom annexe with a sloping roof (8 x 5 m) from £110,000, all including VAT. It does not publish garden-room prices, so ask for a quote.

An annexe that someone sleeps or lives in is not covered by the outbuilding rules below: it needs planning permission and building regulations approval. The firm offers a planning package for £1,500 including VAT. It says an annexe takes four to six weeks from start to finish (its homepage mentions a four-week installation), and it gives a 10-year guarantee.