Garage conversion into living space

[LiveInABox]

Hello, does anyone have any experience of converting a garage into a living space? We are considering it as somewhere for my mum to live - living space & kitchenette area (bedroom/bathroom are elsewhere so don't need to consider those). It's a single garage but pretty long (approx 7m x 3m). Worried about making it warm & cosy enough and making the layout work. Has anyone done something similar and can offer any advice/things to consider?

[kiwidreamer]

No direct advice but neighbours of ours have done just this and they seem very happy, that room is now lit up every night so someone is finding the extra space more than comfortable so it must be achievable. They converted the garage and extended out overtop of it too so it had to be reinforced property etc etc. Seems like a very reasonable thing to do :)

[LiveInABox]

Thanks for that Kiwi... anyone else?

[ContentedSidewinder]

Firstly, let me assure you that having two kitchens in no way makes you liable for extra council tax (I used to work in council tax) this would be to do with making it a granny annexe which you are not doing. And by that I mean it has it's own access and any door into the main house could be locked etc so technically it is a separate dwelling.

If you have a disabled or dependent elderly relative over 65 living in it then it is exempt from council tax but if you had your brother and his wife living in it then that is taxable.

Secondly, I converted a double garage into a playroom and put a wall across the back of both garages to create a store with a door from the playroom into it. We did this because we needed a storage space for all the junk that you need to store and yes we do have a shed too.

And because it meant in future should we need to create a separate living space we can have one "garage" as bedroom and en-suite and the other as a lounge and a kitchen. Our former garage retained the exterior door to the garden which is now in the store bit.

Cost wise, it was £11k for the 2 garages (3 years ago and in Yorkshire) and we replaced the garage doors with windows but we matched the windows to the ones already on the front rather than fill the garage door space with a window and brick underneath. It blends into the house better. If your garage is fully integral ie does not jut out from your house at all then you will hopefully have a double skin brick, so breeze block/thermalite type block on the inside, normal brick on the outside so insulating it will be easier.

[ContentedSidewinder]

Forgot to say, things to consider, where is the water feed coming from for the kitchen and where can you drain it to?

[Shesparkles]

We converted our garage into a 2nd living room about 8 years ago-you'll get guidance re insulation etc from building control. It was definitely money well spent for us.

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

There might be something to help you in these Ideabooks - worth a look !!
www.houzz.com/ideabooks/query/garage-conversion

[culturemulcher]

Contentedsidewinder thanks for the great advice. We're considering making a granny annex and I've been wondering about the council tax, etc, implications.