when 36yearold michael fernandes founder of product designing company marshalkraft decided to lease an office in mumbai he was deterred by the exorbitant rents we needed a place for conducting meetings with our clients and handling backend administrative work as our workshop was outside the city however we couldnt decide on a suitable place as the commercial rentals were too high says fernandes his solution was to convert a flat he owns in mumbai as his office saving on the rent and more importantly cutting short the commuting time considerablythough fernandes had to invest about rs 1 lakh on renovating the flat including buying office equipment and changing the furniture this was less than the amount he would have had to invest in renting a new office initially many of my clients were surprised but none of them had any apprehension about meeting us in a residential setup he addswho can set up an office at homeom ahuja ceo residential services jones lang lasalle india explains that while fullscale commercial usage of residential flats is often opposed by cooperative housing societies a certain percentage or in some cases a fixed area is legally marked for official use this area can vary across the country and even within the city and you will have to go through the different state laws local or housing society bylaws to find out the exact figure for instance within the mumbai metropolitan region an area of 220 sq ft can be used for certain commercial activities the rules are as valid for apartments as for independent houses the usage is also confined to professions such as those practiced by doctors lawyers and chartered accountants besides activities like teaching painting or dancing holding yoga classes tuitions or conducting cookery classes are also allowed in a residential area the dual usage of space has been allowed after various court rulings and acts passed over the past five decades in one such ruling the maharashtra state cooperative apellate court favoured a resident of ghatkopar mumbai in 1986 stating that activities such as conducting yoga classes in a residential flat did not breach the bylaws of the cooperative housing society according to the ruling professional activities such as teaching of certain art forms would not be viewed as commercial activity even if charges are leviedin another case filed under the karnataka shops and commercial establishments act 1961 it was ruled that the use of residence as an office by cas lawyers and doctors would not be considered a commercial activity the premise was that the work and skill involved in such professions are predominantly mental or intellectual rather than physical or manual however these should not be considered as blanket rulings seeking mandatory approvalsbefore you convert a part of your house into an office you will need to acquire permission from various authorities if you dont the business will be considered illegalravi goenka advocate goenka law associates explains that you need three types of approvals firstly you need to