From Charlie Swain, enforcement officer at SCDC,

Businesses run from homes, on a small scale are usually not a planning concern, a change of use occurs/is required when the business is not incidental to the enjoyment of the house.

For example a bed and breakfast that uses the majority of the rooms in the house - therefore the business use is taking over the residential use of the dwelling and is not incidental to the enjoyment of the property.

Many people work from home and a home office is common, beauty therapist, curtain alterations, dressmaking or renting out a room, even small businesses which employ other staff can be seen to be acceptable on planning terms and therefore usually do not need planning consent.

The types of things to look out for are unauthorised adverts connected to the business (these usually require advertisement consent), building works, extensions but if you have any doubt please raise it with us to investigate, that's what we are here for.