Shortly after the Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain Protests in 2021 the central government stopped charging VAT on the labour needed for 'building the sustainable future'. To the consumer VAT is still charged on the insulation boards themselves, and on photovoltaic solar panels and many other sustainable upgrades - before 2021 the builder would claim the VAT back on these purchases and charge 20% for the total invoice. This priced out many households from essential cost saving upgrades. 

The Igloo is classed as Plant and Machinary when invoiced - this has other: different tax benefits for the client. However we: the installers register the work as 'installation' and more specifically classing us as "insulation installers".   Insulation installation is zero rated for VAT. 

We filed an exemption notice to HMRC is July of 2025. There is no clear guidance on who counts as an 'insulation installer'. Roofing insulation is done by roofers, and exterior insulation by renderers and internal insulation is done by plasterers.  Obviously as a result of VAT in construction most companies have one price for cash and one price for card. We understand that many people interested in The Igloo will need to use the Credit Card to finalize the balance. With our exemption we are probably the only Garden Room company that can offer the same price to everybody. 

No. This tax does not assess "livability" as the article points out but permanency and servicing. Some Garden Rooms that count as developments may expect a visit from a VOA officer, this may increase your council tax. However - The Igloo is designed to use IP rated sockets on either end. Your house on one end and The Igloo on the other end. For those who want something a little bit more than two waterproof outdoor sockets we can manage this project for you - for those who don't want the hassle and will just be running the cable through the window - good on you. 

If you can demonstrate that your garden room is not for 'personal benefit' you can claim it against your tax liablity. If you are disabled but not self employed you will be able to get the cost back through the access to work scheme, if you are not self employed and not working at home by choice but as a condition of your job contract then you can get the costs back too. For those that are self employed you have to prove that you use your garden room as a meeting place, and this can include online meetings too.  

We can show you the igloo, knock on our virtual door to see if we are in. 

Garden Rooms are expensive because building buildings is expensive; and there are many reasons why we are in this mess. The average bricklayer gets paid £50,000 a year because there are only 70,000 of them having the build more than they are capable or willing to build. The need for specialised labour for every trade; has come about through heavy UK regulation - and is not a problem we see in Eastern Europe or Asia. SIP panels are not made for Garden Rooms; like SUPER SIP is; and require heavy lifting machinery; and cannot be bevelled and chamfered by even a very skilled carpenter; so are always a factory product; and it is the factory that take the lion share of the profits from the SIP kits that are most often used to build garden rooms; and then specialistic carpenters and builders take up a large chunk of the rest of the budget. 

The actual material used is not expensive, PIR and OSB is actually quite cheap; as is the “specialist high density polyeurathane adhesive” that is used to glue them together; also known commercially as ‘Gorilla Glue’ . Essentially we forgo the need to pay factories as we built the SIP as we assemble the igloo; and we forgo the need for specialist labour too as we forgo the need for carpenters; steel fabricators; stone masons and all the usual trades that are making too much money elsewhere.  SUPER SIP uses low weight and low density materials; so we only really need hand tools to build with this system; training is easy and you don’t have to be a big strong man to do it, or heavy lifting machinery to haul it. 

Another cost Garden Room builder need to suffer with in the cost of non-payment; and like all trades the customer may refuse to pay; and customers have even been known to attempt to charge builders with Section 7; harassment offences - and claim criminal damage when the builder repossesses the materials. A Garden Igloo weighs very little; so unlike a Garden Room can be repossessed with ease and without causing any damage. This means we do not need to take out any insurance against non-payment - and further means that we can settle disputes quickly should we be in the wrong. Whereas the Garden Room builder takes the same risk an extension builder takes - we do not take this risk; we will always repossess the igloos from those who do not pay the final balance; and we pass these savings onto the customers who do pay. Roofers for example all agree that they need to be charging a gross profit margin of 500% to take this risk on the chin; we charge a GP of around 100%. 

All in all a thin layer of non-tradiational fibreglass and epoxy layered on by a generalist labourer makes a low weight, high performance structure; the labour, material, and indemnity costs are much lower with us; and we pass these costs on to the customers - A typical garden room requires many layers of traditional materials, layered by a specialist labourer, and the risk of something going wrong is high. 

We designed a way to get around all these barriers - and making a Garden Room affordable to those who need a Garden Room is just what we do; Tom is an Architect & a QS and developed SUPER SIP with Inna a passive house specialist, and Kris a QS specialising in problem projects such as Thames Water and HS2. 

Garden Rooms are expensive because building buildings is expensive; and there are many reasons why we are in this mess. The average bricklayer gets paid £50,000 a year because there are only 70,000 of them having the build more than they are capable or willing to build. The need for specialised labour for every trade; has come about through heavy UK regulation - and is not a problem we see in Eastern Europe or Asia. SIP panels are not made for Garden Rooms; like SUPER SIP is; and require heavy lifting machinery; and cannot be bevelled and chamfered by even a very skilled carpenter; so are always a factory product; and it is the factory that take the lion share of the profits from the SIP kits that are most often used to build garden rooms; and then specialistic carpenters and builders take up a large chunk of the rest of the budget. 

The actual material used is not expensive, PIR and OSB is actually quite cheap; as is the “specialist high density polyeurathane adhesive” that is used to glue them together; also known commercially as ‘Gorilla Glue’ . Essentially we forgo the need to pay factories as we built the SIP as we assemble the igloo; and we forgo the need for specialist labour too as we forgo the need for carpenters; steel fabricators; stone masons and all the usual trades that are making too much money elsewhere.  SUPER SIP uses low weight and low density materials; so we only really need hand tools to build with this system; training is easy and you don’t have to be a big strong man to do it, or heavy lifting machinery to haul it. 

Another cost Garden Room builder need to suffer with in the cost of non-payment; and like all trades the customer may refuse to pay; and customers have even been known to attempt to charge builders with Section 7; harassment offences - and claim criminal damage when the builder repossesses the materials. A Garden Igloo weighs very little; so unlike a Garden Room can be repossessed with ease and without causing any damage. This means we do not need to take out any insurance against non-payment - and further means that we can settle disputes quickly should we be in the wrong. Whereas the Garden Room builder takes the same risk an extension builder takes - we do not take this risk; we will always repossess the igloos from those who do not pay the final balance; and we pass these savings onto the customers who do pay. Roofers for example all agree that they need to be charging a gross profit margin of 500% to take this risk on the chin; we charge a GP of around 100%. 

All in all a thin layer of non-tradiational fibreglass and epoxy layered on by a generalist labourer makes a low weight, high performance structure; the labour, material, and indemnity costs are much lower with us; and we pass these costs on to the customers - A typical garden room requires many layers of traditional materials, layered by a specialist labourer, and the risk of something going wrong is high. 

We designed a way to get around all these barriers - and making a Garden Room affordable to those who need a Garden Room is just what we do; Tom is an Architect & a QS and developed SUPER SIP with Inna a passive house specialist, and Kris a QS specialising in problem projects such as Thames Water and HS2. 

Garden Rooms are expensive because building buildings is expensive; and there are many reasons why we are in this mess. The average bricklayer gets paid £50,000 a year because there are only 70,000 of them having the build more than they are capable or willing to build. The need for specialised labour for every trade; has come about through heavy UK regulation - and is not a problem we see in Eastern Europe or Asia. SIP panels are not made for Garden Rooms; like SUPER SIP is; and require heavy lifting machinery; and cannot be bevelled and chamfered by even a very skilled carpenter; so are always a factory product; and it is the factory that take the lion share of the profits from the SIP kits that are most often used to build garden rooms; and then specialistic carpenters and builders take up a large chunk of the rest of the budget. 

The actual material used is not expensive, PIR and OSB is actually quite cheap; as is the “specialist high density polyeurathane adhesive” that is used to glue them together; also known commercially as ‘Gorilla Glue’ . Essentially we forgo the need to pay factories as we built the SIP as we assemble the igloo; and we forgo the need for specialist labour too as we forgo the need for carpenters; steel fabricators; stone masons and all the usual trades that are making too much money elsewhere.  SUPER SIP uses low weight and low density materials; so we only really need hand tools to build with this system; training is easy and you don’t have to be a big strong man to do it, or heavy lifting machinery to haul it. 

Another cost Garden Room builder need to suffer with in the cost of non-payment; and like all trades the customer may refuse to pay; and customers have even been known to attempt to charge builders with Section 7; harassment offences - and claim criminal damage when the builder repossesses the materials. A Garden Igloo weighs very little; so unlike a Garden Room can be repossessed with ease and without causing any damage. This means we do not need to take out any insurance against non-payment - and further means that we can settle disputes quickly should we be in the wrong. Whereas the Garden Room builder takes the same risk an extension builder takes - we do not take this risk; we will always repossess the igloos from those who do not pay the final balance; and we pass these savings onto the customers who do pay. Roofers for example all agree that they need to be charging a gross profit margin of 500% to take this risk on the chin; we charge a GP of around 100%. 

All in all a thin layer of non-tradiational fibreglass and epoxy layered on by a generalist labourer makes a low weight, high performance structure; the labour, material, and indemnity costs are much lower with us; and we pass these costs on to the customers - A typical garden room requires many layers of traditional materials, layered by a specialist labourer, and the risk of something going wrong is high. 

We designed a way to get around all these barriers - and making a Garden Room affordable to those who need a Garden Room is just what we do; Tom is an Architect & a QS and developed SUPER SIP with Inna a passive house specialist, and Kris a QS specialising in problem projects such as Thames Water and HS2. 

For tax reasons. Your application will always state exactly why the pod is not a building. Our igloos are made the exact same way as the storage part of a refrigeration van. Hence we can claim there is huge amounts of claims previously put through as 'Plant and Machinery'. Simple. This is also the reason why some companies use the word 'pod'.  

They are often made out of wood; we choose not to use wood; but that is just us. We find wood annoying - wood is hard to keep dry from rain and condensation and requires constant maintenance from the users. It has inconsistent structural strength and can break easily and unexpectedly in transport. Wood is harder than plastics to keep airtight as timber is often supplies with faults that make sheets not flat and plumb. Timber is actually fairly heavy when used in to make solid load bearing walls, and when used to make frames it is very thin and flimsy. Fibreglass is complication free;F and lightweight too. At the moment global demand for timber is at an all time high and is expected to quadruple in price in 10 years; fibreglass is made from silica, which is made from sand basically so for us; we rejected timber. Not all plastics are the same and fibreglassdoes not suffer damage from UV like other plastics do; so make sure when you are looking for plastic sheds that you check what type of plastic is used and at what density.