Garden Offices in County Dublin

A garden office in Co. Dublin costs €6,700 to €10,500 for a one-desk pod and €13,390 to €16,720 for an office of 12 to 16 m², insulated and put up. Fully fitted, 12 to 16 m² is €25,250 to €27,500. 280,195 people in Dublin work from home, 46% of those at work.

Garden offices in Swords, Balbriggan, Malahide, Rush, Portmarnock and the rest of Co. Dublin. Size yours and one company that covers Dublin rings you.

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280,195people work from home, 46%
75%of homes have three bedrooms or fewer
753 mmof rain a year in Dublin city centre
1,825heating degree days a year in Dublin

Garden office prices in Dublin

What	Typical cost	What moves the price
A one-desk office pod, 6 to 9 m²	€6,700 to €10,500	3 × 2 m up to 3 × 3 m. Insulated timber, put up. Base and power extra
An office for two desks, 12 to 16 m²	€13,390 to €16,720	4 × 3 m to 4 × 4 m. The insulation, the doors and the glass
A 20 m² office, 5 × 4 m	€15,200 to €22,000	Triple glazing and thicker insulation sit at the top
Fully fitted, 12 to 16 m²	€25,250 to €27,500	Insulated, wired, lined and floored, ready to work in
The base	€800 to €2,500	Ground screws, a slab or pads. A slope costs more
Electrics inside the office	€600 to €1,200	Sockets, lights and a small fuse board
The power cable from the house	from €15 a metre	Distance to the fuse board, and what the trench crosses

Our price guide for Ireland. Ask whether VAT is in the price. Many list prices leave it out. Ask what the price includes: the base, the cable from the house and the inside finish.

Working from home in Dublin

Dublin280,195 people
Kildare40,433 people
Meath32,232 people
Wicklow25,502 people

280,195 people in Co. Dublin work from home for some or all of the week (Census 2022). That is 46% of those at work who answered, the highest share of the 26 counties. The national figure is 36%, so Dublin is ahead of it. A lot of these desks are in bedrooms and at kitchen tables. 80,037 people in Dublin spend an hour or more getting to work, school or college, each way. That is 10% of everyone who travels, the 12th highest share in the country. Each day worked from the garden takes that trip off the week.

Houses and gardens in Dublin

378,215 households in Co. Dublin live in a house or bungalow, 73% of all homes (Census 2022). The other 139,056 are flats and apartments, with no garden to build in. Where there is a garden here it is often small, so the 25 m² of open space that has to be left is the rule to measure first. 75% of homes in Dublin have three bedrooms or fewer, the highest share in the country. With that many smaller homes, a spare room for a desk is hard to come by. That is the gap a garden office fills.

Planning permission in Dublin

The rules are national. A garden office in Co. Dublin needs no planning permission when it meets all of these:

Behind or beside the house. Never forward of the front wall.
30 m² in total. The office plus every shed, garage and greenhouse already in the garden. It was 25 m² until 2026.
25 m² of open space left. Private garden to the rear or side, after the office goes in.
3 m high at most. 4 m if it has a tiled or slated pitched roof.
At the side of the house, the finish has to match the house.
Not lived in. No bedroom, no letting. The use has to go with the house.

There are four planning authorities: Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Which one depends on where the house is. Not sure? Ask the council for a section 5 declaration: its answer in writing on whether your office is exempt. The fee is €80.

Rain, cold and broadband in Dublin

Town	Rain a year	December to February
Dublin city centre	753 mm	185 mm
Swords	762 mm	184 mm
Tallaght	848 mm	223 mm

Dublin city centre gets 753 mm of rain in an average year, and November is the wettest month at 84 mm (Met Éireann 1991 to 2020, within 3 km of the town). That is the driest county town of the 26, so timber cladding dries out well between showers. Dublin has 1,825 heating degree days a year, the 23rd coldest of the 26 on that measure. It is one of the milder ones, so a well insulated office here needs little heat for much of the year.

93% of households in Co. Dublin have broadband (Census 2022), the highest share of the 26 counties. Where the line into the house is good, a data cable in the same trench as the power carries all of it out to the office.

Neighbouring counties

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More on garden offices

Costs, sizes, pods, insulation, planning and studios.

A flat-roofed garden office in dark cladding at the end of a back garden

What a garden office costsEvery size, priced. A one-desk pod is €6,700 to €10,500.

Office podsOne desk, 6 to 9 m². The smallest building that works all year.

Charred black timber cladding with a window and a wall lamp

Insulated officesWalls, floor, roof and glass. What to ask for in millimetres.

A long, low building in black metal cladding on a lawn

Planning permission30 m² for all garden buildings together, 3 m high, behind the house.

A desk and chair under a wide window inside a timber-lined garden office

What size to getOne desk, two desks, or a desk and a meeting table.

Two dark green timber buildings joined by a deck

Garden studiosMusic, art and treatment rooms. What changes from an office.

Garden offices in every county

Questions people ask

How much is a garden office in Dublin?

A one-desk pod is €6,700 to €10,500 and an office for two desks €13,390 to €16,720, insulated and put up. Fully fitted, 12 to 16 m² is €25,250 to €27,500. The base is €800 to €2,500.

Do I need planning permission for a garden office in Dublin?

Usually not: behind the house, 3 m high at most, 25 m² of garden left and 30 m² of garden buildings in total. The councils are Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council; a section 5 declaration costs €80.

Who builds garden offices near me in Dublin?

We pass your request to one garden office company that covers Co. Dublin, including Swords, Balbriggan, Malahide. One company only.

Will a garden office be warm enough in Dublin?

Yes, with insulation in the walls, floor and roof. Dublin has 1,825 heating degree days a year, the 23rd coldest of the 26 county figures. Heating one runs to about €20 to €40 a month in winter.

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