Have you got the UK’s best ‘shoffice’?

Aviva has launched a national competition to find the UK’s best ‘shoffices’, – namely, sheds or outbuildings converted or built for use as workspaces.

From 11 May, 2021 people will be invited to upload pictures of their shoffice to the Aviva Facebook page. Entrants will be in with a chance of winning one of three prizes of retail vouchers*, each worth £250. Each winner will be able to choose from vouchers for Amazon, John Lewis Partners, Ikea, B&Q or Currys PC World.

Entries will be judged by property expert, podcast host and author, Louisa Fletcher. She will be looking for original, innovative designs, with bonus points awarded for brilliant use of budget.

To be eligible for the competition, each shoffice must be a DIY project, such as a converted shed or garage, or a self-built development created by the resident. Professionally constructed or manufactured buildings will not be considered. There are no date restrictions regarding when the shoffice was developed, but entries must be received by 5pm on 1 June, 2021.

In April this year, data from the insurer’s How We Live report discovered the number of UK homeworkers using converted sheds and outbuildings is expected to grow from 10% to 13%.

Nicki Charles, Retail MD, General Insurance, Aviva said: “The number of people using outdoor spaces is steadily creeping upwards. For many, working from home started out as a ‘needs must’ situation, but hybrid working looks set to stay and there’s every chance we’ll see even more outdoor offices in the future.

“We want to see the creative, inventive solutions that people have come up with to embrace this new way of working. So if you have a shoffice, or know someone who has, please, don’t be shy, post your pictures on our Facebook page!”