Will converting my garage de value my house?

[Hastingsishot]

I live in a 3 bed semi. We have a garage on the side of our house. We are thinking of converting it into a large utility room. We live by the sea so it would be like a drying room, boot wash etc. Done properly with full insulation and heating etc.

The front garage door would be taken out and replaced with a large window or sliding doors. A door would be put in from the kitchen.

I don't see us moving from this house for a long time but I am still worried about the impact it has on the value and whether it would put people off buying it.

It would have lots of storage for all the small bits you might keep in a garage.

We have a garden, it's not big but we have a good sized heavy duty shed.

Any thoughts? Would it put you off?

Personally yes, but we have a motorbike and trailer that need covered secure storage.

Most people use garages as glorified storage space for bikes, garden equipment etc. So won't be as bothered.

Depends whether you still have ample parking, and whether your parking area can be made secure (with gates etc). If converting the garage means you only now have off street parking, or a tight space for 1 car it would devalue it for me.

Yes, depends on parking, also access to the back garden, if there is access round the side still it would be ok, but if you have to take all the garden stuff through the garage now would you be retaining front and back doors?

I hate garage conversions with a passion, for one thing we like and need a garage, and the other is they're not very nice shaped rooms, they never seem to flow well in a house, too long and narrow and boxed off from everything else. For me it was an instant discount when house searching, I'm never sure what it does to value as you are increasing living space, but perhaps impacting saleability from those who would prefer the garage, that said I'm sure plenty would opt for the space.

There is a side gate plus off road parking for 2 cars. It's a quiet cul de sac.

If it's going to be a utility room then do you really need to remove the garage door? You could still put a door into the kitchen but leave the option of using it as a garage open? Personally I'd rather have more living space than a garage (but I care a lot less about parking than most people - as far as I can see most people seem to buy houses primarily as places to put their cars...). But unless a house is very big I'd see a utility room the size of a garage as a bit of a waste. About half the garages on our road have been converted (including ours) and the converted ones tend to go for a bit more money but a) they usually give a full extra living room and b) probably not by as much as a conversion costs.

We live in a cul de sac of 35 homes - all have a garage and only one person actually uses said garage for their car (and it's an old convertible that does really need it) so I'd said for many/most the extension would be preferable. Especially as you still have space for off road parking for 2 cars. Several have converted their garage for extra utility/bedroom space (2 level conversion). Most have left a small 'garage' part on the front for bike/tool storage.

It would be a utility room but also a space to rinse wet suits, body boards, dogs etc with somewhere to hang them to dry.

Also lots of kitchen units to put stuff away. And keep some of the things you would store in a garage. Tall units to put the dog food for example.

Thank you for all your thoughts, it's good to have others peoples views on things.

My parents took a slice out of the garage for their utility room, leaving the garage big enough for a small car. The utility room still had plenty of space. Just in case that’s an option you hadn’t considered.
I do think you will discourage some buyers without a garage.

I’d personally like it, we never put the car in the garage and if you have a shed for the lawnmower etc then I think it would be great.

I’d actually consider putting a shower in? Great for washing down muddy/ Sandy people, and dogs.

@Hastingsishot

It would be a utility room but also a space to rinse wet suits, body boards, dogs etc with somewhere to hang them to dry.

Also lots of kitchen units to put stuff away. And keep some of the things you would store in a garage. Tall units to put the dog food for example.

Thank you for all your thoughts, it's good to have others peoples views on things.

You shouldn't hang dogs to dry 😂

😂

Don’t put sliding doors on it! Can’t bear that.

So many factors for me like others have said:
Parking situation
Storage situation

Have you got a shed ? They don't depreciate as such but they won't add value so any equity you may gain from an extension will be negated by losing the garage . Just make sure you Have an alternative for storage .. loads of houses don't have garages so I wouldn't worry about selling it , someone will buy it !

If you intend to live there for a long time, make it work for you. It is easy enough to "un-convert" a large space, so make the space what would make your life easy for NOW, otherwise you will live with the un-ideal for years - whilst thinking you should have done it .

If it's going to be a utility room then do you really need to remove the garage door? You could still put a door into the kitchen but leave the option of using it as a garage open? This. I remember seeing plenty of utility rooms / garages in the past. They’d keep the garage door but have a door through from the kitchen and would manage to squeeze whatever they needed in there.
You don’t need to park in your garage. We don’t park in ours (which is not connected our house so can’t be a utility room sadly) it’s just storage. But it’s still a garage.

Can you not just keep it as a garage and add all of those things?

Personally we use our garage as a garage and it did put us off buying houses previously when garages were completely converted. A garage being used as something else would have been fine as easy to rip stuff out and convert back.

Having said that with 3/4 bed houses round here the norm is to convert the garage as another living area.

As you've said you've got off road parking it would make your house more appealing to me. I've never really understood the appeal of garages unless you have motorbikes.

Our house originally had a double garage that was then converted into living accommodation. We wouldn't have even looked round the house if it was still the original layout.

I actually think that from your update you would essentially still have a garage from the point of view of how most people use them - hardly anyone seems to actually park a car in them anymore, so you'd have all the space and storage that they're actually used for still. So I think it would be less divisive than really converting it into, say, a dining room where you get extra living space but lose a lot of storage space. As long as you're careful about access etc (I would have the door rather than a window at the front if otherwise it means you have to walk down the side path and around the garage to access) I can't really see much downside.

OP I've done mine so that I've kept the garage door and just put a partition wall up by the door, a window at the other end and fully carpeted and plastered the garage. It's now a snug - but when I come to sell it means that of someone wants a garage all they have to do is knock down the partition wall (the other walls have been plastered but you could still fit a car in it)

I think you need to consider what your house would look like from the front if you remove the door to put in a window or sliding doors - this is what tends to make houses with converted garages odd from the front. Sliding doors sounds pretty awful on the front to be honest.
If it were just a window, that means you’d have to traipse the body boards and wet suits through the house to get them in there - unless you throw them through the window. How big is the garage? Don’t forget, the insulation needed will reduce the internal size quite a bit.

About ten years ago dh converted our garage into a study / guest room but we also had a window put into the wall on the side of the garage and kept the garage front door intact, leaving a space behind the door for tools etc and building a plasterboard wall with an internal door. We (or someone else) could therefore turn the room back into a garage one day if that's what was preferred. We are so glad we converted it now we're wfh as it has given us more space. We do have a large front drive with parking for 3 cars in a cul de sac so we never used it for the car anyway. I'd go ahead and do it - I always think you should do what makes the house most comfortable for you.

Wil you get pp for changing out the garage door? You wouldn't around here anymore

Other than that, it sounds like a great idea!

A friend of mine has her garage half converted, so a small playroom at the back of it which is connected to the main house, no access to the front half of the garage which is still a garage. Enough storage in the front part for bikes, lawn mower etc but not a car (I don’t know anyone who keeps their car in a garage now anyway??)

Our garage is fully converted and was when we moved in. Window at the front, connected to our main living room. For us the extra living space was worth far more than a large storage area. It’s currently an office but the last owners uses it as a bed room. We put in a shed for lawn mower, garden furniture, kids garden toys etc. Not bikes though, apparently bikes are too expensive and must be stored in the house 🙄

@oohmyback

Can you not just keep it as a garage and add all of those things?

Personally we use our garage as a garage and it did put us off buying houses previously when garages were completely converted. A garage being used as something else would have been fine as easy to rip stuff out and convert back.

Having said that with 3/4 bed houses round here the norm is to convert the garage as another living area.

This. We viewed a house where the garage was used as a utility with a sink and cupboards in one corner. There was still plenty of room for a car and it would have been really easy just to remove the utility bits if you didn’t want them.