Am I legally able to operate a franchise from home?

There are two areas where you would need to do thorough research. The first is your franchise agreement and operations manual.  As a franchisee you will have to comply with your agreement and manual and this will normally specify the premises from which you will operate your franchise” target=“_blank”>franchise. As a result, during the process of taking a franchise you will discuss with the franchisor where you want to establish your business and whether he is prepared to allow you to operate from home.  In some cases, franchisors recognise that, at least in the early years of a franchise, this is sensible so as to keep costs under control, but usually they would want to ensure that you have a separate office and if stock is important a secure place to store your stock and park your vehicle.  The second area that you need to consider is planning and whether you need to apply for planning permission to operate from home. If you simply operate from a bedroom which has been converted to an office you will generally not need to obtain planning permission.  You should, however, be aware that any ‘profit’ on the sale of your house will be capital gains tax free if it is your main residence, but if you have operated a business there a proportion of your profit will be subject to capital gains tax.