Vol. 25 No. 2 April 2005

In an editorial last year I expressed my personal opinion that too large a percentage of professional homœopaths were working from their own homes, in less than ideal settings, and this impacted negatively on the image of the homœopath as a professional medical practitioner.To me the situation invited unfavourable comparisons with such medical professions as chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists, dieticians, etc; I even wondered to what degree the bylaws, district plans, etc, of local councils were being violated – so I wrote to 20 of them asking for their relevant rules. I think it will surprise many people working from home to learn how thorough-going are the legal requirements for a home business.

The rules vary somewhat from place to place, from great laxity in their observance (“we’ll go and see the set-up if the neighbours complain”) to enforced requirements for wheelchair access, fireescape plans, and so on. The number of vehicle movements permitted varies greatly, as do the rules on the provision of off-street parking. Some councils only allow people who live on the premises to operate the business, others set a limit to the number of outsiders who might work there.

Of great interest is the general rule relating to rates: If the practitioner claims a proportion of the rates on the property in their statement of income and expenditure for the Inland Revenue Department, the local council must be told of this to enable an exemption to be granted, or an assessment made, on a proportion of the rates being regarded as those on a commercial property.

Similarly, if you practise from home check if this affects the validity of your insurance policy; three major insurance companies told me householders-type home and contents cover could be totally invalidated if a portion of the property was being used for commercial purposes. Check this out before the insurance assessor inspecting the charred ruins of your house sees a singed sign saying “Homœopathic patients please go to red door down driveway.” Members of the Council of Homœopaths Register sign annually an agreement to comply with local bylaws; I hope they think about this before applying their signature.

Bruce Barwell