The perfect work from home setup: 6 features every home office needs in 2026

Almost half of all working adults were working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, but as life has returned to normal over the past couple of years, working from home and hybrid working are here to stay.

In a 2022 Government survey, 23% of businesses suggested they would incorporate an element of homeworking in their business model. As of May 2025, 28% of working adults are hybrid workers, splitting time between home and office. As such, the demand for properties with a dedicated study or home office has surged, with buyers prioritising the perfect work from home setup in their next property search.

Brookworth Homes properties are carefully crafted with the needs of remote and hybrid workers in mind. In this article we explore 6 essential features that create the ideal home office setup – from spacious study rooms and seamless connectivity to smart home automation – and why they matter for your productivity, comfort and work-life balance.

Spacious study rooms for dedicated workspaces

Since most hybrid or home working roles in 2026 are reliant on spending the majority of time in front of a computer screen, having a dedicated, quiet place to concentrate is essential. A purpose-designed study room provides the privacy and separation from the rest of the home that converted bedrooms or kitchen table setups simply can't offer.

A spacious study, like you'll find in Goldcrest at our Warren Grove development in Crowborough, East Sussex, provides ample room for a comfortable, well-equipped home office setup. Unlike typical new builds where a fourth bedroom doubles as an office, Brookworth study rooms are designed from the ground up with remote workers in mind – with dimensions that comfortably accommodate ergonomic office furniture including adjustable desks, ergonomic chairs and dual monitor setups.

A dedicated study allows you to separate work from family life, helping to reduce distractions and increase productivity throughout the working day. Research consistently shows that workers with dedicated office spaces report higher focus levels and better work-life boundaries than those working from shared spaces.

Large picture windows in your Brookworth Homes study also ensure you're working in a brightly lit, naturally ventilated environment. Natural daylight is proven to improve mood, boost motivation and reduce eye strain – critical factors when you're spending six to eight hours at your desk. Combined with proper task lighting, this creates an ideal workspace that supports sustained concentration and wellbeing.

Seamless connectivity built into every room

A stress-free work from home setup starts with a fast, stable internet connection. At Brookworth, high-speed connectivity isn't an afterthought, it's built into every home as standard.

Each property comes with fibre to the property as standard, ensuring significantly faster and more reliable speeds than traditional broadband. This enterprise-grade infrastructure is perfect for bandwidth-intensive tasks like video conferencing, cloud-based software, large file transfers, and running multiple smart home systems simultaneously. To further support digital living and remote working, CAT6 cabling is installed throughout every Brookworth home, with hardwired data ports in all bedrooms and dedicated study areas.

In our study rooms, integrated floor boxes provide additional Ethernet access points at desk level, giving you flexible, hardwired connection options for high-performance work setups. This eliminates the cable clutter and connectivity dropouts that plague typical home offices reliant solely on Wi-Fi. Selected homes also feature pre-installed cabling to patio edges and attached garages, allowing future conversion of these outdoor spaces into garden offices or creative studios – a feature that's increasingly valuable as remote work becomes permanent.

Every Brookworth home also comes fitted with a commercial-grade Wi-Fi router and strategically positioned Wireless Access Points to ensure consistent coverage and signal strength throughout the property, from basement to bedroom. Unlike older homes where you're scrambling to retrofit connectivity or typical new builds with basic broadband provision, Brookworth homes deliver professional-grade infrastructure from day one. From the moment you move in, you're ready to connect. No downtime, no disruption, no waiting for engineers – just seamless modern living and working.

Strategic floor and wall socket placement

An often overlooked advantage of having a dedicated work from home space or study within your home is the ability to position your furniture wherever you like without being tethered to the nearest power outlet.

At Brookworth Homes we take great care in the design and placement of our power and data sockets, anticipating the needs of modern remote workers. Strategic placement means you have complete flexibility to create your perfect home office setup, whether you prefer your desk against a window for natural light, positioned centrally in the room or tucked into a corner for a more intimate workspace.

Our study rooms feature multiple floor and wall-mounted power and data sockets positioned at optimal heights and locations. Floor boxes integrated into the study flooring provide discreet access to power and Ethernet connections right at your desk, eliminating the need for unsightly extension cables trailing across the room. This thoughtful infrastructure allows you to accommodate everything from laptop and monitor setups to desk lamps, phone chargers and other essential home office equipment without compromise.

Well-placed sockets combined with cable trays, ties, and desk grommets help you keep cables organised and hidden, reducing visual clutter that can hinder focus and concentration. A tidy desk isn't just aesthetically pleasing, proper cable management also prevents tripping hazards, protects expensive equipment from accidental damage and makes cleaning and reorganising your workspace far more straightforward.

Unlike older homes where you're limited to a few outdated sockets in fixed locations or typical new builds with standard electrical provision, Brookworth study rooms are designed with the specific demands of modern hybrid working in mind, giving you the freedom to create a workspace that works for you, not around you.

Quiet spaces with premium soundproofing

Whether your children are still at home studying, your grandchildren are visiting for the day or your partner is catching up on household tasks, you'll know how sound can travel through a home – especially when you're trying to concentrate on important work. With a Brookworth Homes property, acoustic privacy is built into the very structure of your home.

We take great pride in employing premium construction methods that go far beyond standard new build specifications to ensure maximum comfort and focus for homeowners who work from home. While many volume housebuilders rely on lightweight timber frame construction that allows sound to travel freely between rooms and floors, Brookworth homes are built using traditional methods that prioritise solidity and acoustic performance.

One such example is solid concrete flooring throughout, which dramatically reduces noise transference between floors – meaning footsteps, conversations and daily activities happening upstairs won't disrupt your concentration below. This is combined with enhanced insulation between rooms, creating effective sound barriers that maintain tranquility in your study even when the rest of the household is active. For professionals conducting video calls, client meetings or presentations from home, this acoustic separation is invaluable, ensuring your professional environment remains undisturbed.

Underfloor heating for all-day comfort

One of the best ways to create a productive workspace is to ensure your home office is set to your ideal temperature throughout the working day. Environmental comfort has a measurable impact on focus and performance. Research shows that productivity drops significantly when workers are either too cold or too warm, with the optimal temperature for concentration sitting between 20-22°C.

Many Brookworth Homes properties feature energy efficient underfloor heating as standard, providing consistent, radiant warmth that's both comfortable and cost effective to run. Unlike traditional radiators that create hot spots near walls and cold zones elsewhere, underfloor heating distributes warmth evenly across the entire room, ensuring your feet stay toasty under your desk while maintaining a stable, comfortable temperature from floor to ceiling throughout the day.

Beyond comfort, underfloor heating offers significant practical and aesthetic advantages for your home office setup. It eliminates bulky wall-mounted radiators that consume valuable wall space that you might otherwise use for bookshelves, filing cabinets or simply a cleaner visual backdrop. And because underfloor heating is controlled by smart thermostats in Brookworth homes, you can adjust the temperature zone-by-zone, ensuring your study is at the perfect working temperature without overheating the rest of your property.

Smart home automation for effortless control

Having the ability to adjust the lighting, temperature and ambiance of your home office without leaving your desk isn't just convenient, it's a productivity enhancer that allows you to fine-tune your environment throughout the working day without breaking concentration.

Selected Brookworth Homes properties feature the installation of the premium Control4 Home Automation system, a professional-grade smart home platform that allows for effortless, intuitive control over every aspect of your workspace environment. With Control4, you can adjust lighting levels to reduce screen glare during bright afternoons and increase warmth when temperatures drop from a wall-mounted touchscreen, your smartphone or simple voice commands.

This level of environmental control elevates both the living and working experience to new heights. Imagine starting your workday with a "Focus Mode" that sets your study lighting to optimal brightness for screen work, adjusts the temperature to your preferred 21°C and activates gentle background music to aid concentration. As the day progresses, you can seamlessly transition to a "video call" scene that optimises lighting for your on-camera appearance and mutes audio systems automatically, all without interrupting your workflow.

Beyond workspace control, you can also use Control4 to manage your audio and video systems throughout the property, allowing you to play curated playlists or productivity focused background music while you work. The system also integrates with home security cameras, allowing you to monitor deliveries, check on children arriving home from school or keep an eye on your property without leaving your desk.

For hybrid workers who spend significant time at home, this seamless integration of technology and environment creates a truly professional workspace that adapts to your needs rather than forcing you to adapt to your space. A level of control and customisation that's typically only found in high-end corporate offices, now available in your Brookworth home.

Find your perfect work from home setup at Brookworth Homes

If you're a remote or hybrid worker searching for your next home, the right work from home setup can transform your productivity, comfort and work-life balance. From spacious study rooms with premium soundproofing to smart home automation that adapts to your working day, Brookworth Homes properties are designed with the specific needs of home workers in mind.

Explore our latest developments to discover homes with dedicated office spaces, enterprise-grade connectivity and thoughtful design features that support focused, professional work. Whether you prioritise natural light, acoustic privacy for video calls or flexible spaces that accommodate ergonomic office furniture, our experienced sales teams can help you find the perfect plot and property to match your working style.

Ready to upgrade your work from home experience?

Browse our current developments across Sussex, Kent and Warwickshire or contact our sales team to discuss which homes feature dedicated study rooms and premium home office specifications. Your ideal workspace is waiting.