More home. Same address. Modular garden rooms, designed by you and built by SMART.

Usually not. Garden rooms under 2.5 metres tall fall within permitted development for most houses, including many in conservation areas and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and every SMART range is built under that height as standard. Flats and listed buildings have no permitted development rights, so they always need planning permission. If yours does, SMART can make the application for you, including the CAD drawings and site plans, for an administration fee on top of the council’s fees.

Building prices start at £13,475 for a 1.9m by 1.9m Key Studio and rise with size and range. SMART publishes a price for every standard size, including VAT, covering the finished interior, flooring, doors and double glazing, a radiator, lighting, sockets, wiring, delivery and installation. The base and the electrical connection are quoted after a free site consultation, because both depend on your garden. Payment is staged: 25% when you order, 45% four weeks before installation, 25% when installation starts and the final 5% on completion.

The building itself usually takes 2–5 days to put up, depending on its size and specification. The base goes in first, normally about two weeks before the build, and takes 1–2 days. SMART modular garden rooms arrive as insulated panels that lock together, which is why installation is quick and tidy, and why a building can still go in when the only way into the garden is through the house. Once the electrics are connected, the room is ready to use straight away.

Yes. Every SMART garden room has insulation in the floor, walls and ceiling, double-glazed windows and doors, and a wall-mounted radiator as standard, so it can be used all year round. If you want more, the options include underfloor heating and a climate control system that keeps the room warm in winter and cool in summer. Ingrid, who works full time in her SMART studio, says the underfloor heating is her favourite feature because she is always barefoot.

Not in a standard SMART garden room, which is designed as an office, gym, studio or hobby space and is not built to the regulations for living in. For somewhere to live, SMART Living Spaces are garden annexes built for year-round habitation, laid out with room for a kitchen, a shower room and bedrooms, and each comes with a certificate of lawful use. Families use them for a parent who needs to be close, for a grown-up child or for guests.

Yes, in most cases. SMART buildings arrive as panels rather than one large structure, so they can be carried through a house when there is no side gate or other way into the garden. Your consultant checks access at the free site consultation and plans the route with you. Ground screws, the usual base, are quicker to install than a concrete slab and avoid pouring concrete in your garden, although a concrete base is available where a site needs one.

Every SMART garden room comes with a 10-year structural warranty, included in the price. Aftercare and warranty questions go to a dedicated team on aftermarket@smbuk.com. The natural timber exteriors on the Ultra, Affinity and Key Studio ranges are designed to weather without staining or maintenance; if you would rather keep the original colour, a UV protection oil will do it.

SMART delivers and installs at any address in mainland UK, from the north of Scotland to Cornwall. The team is based near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, and some locations carry a delivery surcharge, which your quotation will show. Site consultations run from Monday to Saturday during the day, and SMART aims to visit within one to two weeks of your enquiry.