DS wants to live in the garage...

[Lowerechelons]

Currently I live in a far to big for me family home which was fully renovated when we moved in, more than 20 years ago and now needs doing again, with adult 2 DSs. They're pretty good at "helping" but the responsibility is mine and I find it overwhelming.

A perfect new build bungalow is going up round the corner. Really well laid out living space and two big double bedrooms, one with ensuite. Small garden, drive and garage.

It would be perfect for me on my own and would work well enough for me and DS2. DS1 (nearly 24) should really have moved out,but it's not so easily for young people blah blah. Anyway, he's said he'll convert/live in the garage, until he can do something on his own.

How practical is that as an idea?

Ah, it’s a tough one. I’m assuming that they don’t have much saved yet so DS1 could be at home for several years? That rather changes things.

I hated my 20s and living in shitty houseshares with people I ranged from mildly liking to actively loathing or creeping me out. I hated horrible landlords and broken down HMOs and having to work my arse off to make a landlord richer and richer. Being cold because we couldn't afford to heat the house properly, and damp because the house wasn't heated properly. People eating your food, mould in shared fridges, unwashed dishes from 'that' lazy housemate. Utopia it certainly was not!

I'll do a lot to protect my kids from that - I'd much rather they lived in comfort with me until they could do better for themselves than a greedy landlord get all their money.

Sorry - I digress.

OP, the camping thing isn't going to work if it's detached. It won't be long before creeping across the garden in the night and letting himself into your house will get extremely old for both of you. Or the poor gf having to let herself into your house in the dark for a post-sex wee every night? Is he (and her) going to flit across your garden in a towel after every shower, or will they arrive at the door in pyjamas, a bundle of clothes under their arms? It's really awkward for you all. I'd do it properly with plumbing or not at all.

Yes, but £15k won't touch the sides in terms of a deposit round here, and they'll need much more than 10% to make the mortgage affordable. A one bed flat in a council block is about £250k.

Then they need to manage their expectations. Looking at studio flats, shared ownership or in cheaper areas. To see if they can afford to buy.

If at mid 20s they have no savings despite living with parents and couldn't afford to save while living in a house share, they must have poorly paid jobs then. So they need to be realistic about the prospects of improving their earning capacity and whether home ownership is realistically achievable for them. Lots of people will never own.

That's how I feel too. None of my DCs friends are living in houseshares.
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Did you miss the post about what they've been through?

DS1 has a good job now, but had a delayed start and some poor decisions early on. DS2 is still a mess.

This is the cheap area round here. They won't find cheaper without moving 100s of miles, and this is where the work is. A privately built studio flat would be more expensive.

If you can afford it, I’d look into doing it properly, insulate it and add some plumbing. It means once one or both have moved out you have space for them to come and stay for family gatherings etc. and spare flexible space can only be good for the value of the property - study, gym, workspace, family room etc. Lots and f people have converted detached garages where I live.

Laughing at all the pp shocked that ops son doesn't already have a deposit at 24. In the real world my DD was 33 when she bought a flat on her own and ds2 is 32 and currently buying a flat. They both have reasonably paid jobs but not the mythical average wage the media likes to tell us we get.
Convert the garage op I would.

Just to respond to this, we and three of our friends all have garage conversions. Each of us has a bedroom and en suite in there. It's not massive but it works really well.

I can't comment on how that works legally if it's a detached garage but it seems a good idea to speak to the developers ahead of time.

I totally understand that loads of people don't have a deposit at 24. Lots of people also don't assume they can buy a home and accept the realities they'll be renting forever. It's wanting one without the other that doesn't work, especially when parents have really had enough of you living with them and you've got a live-in partner. There just comes a time where people have to get on with living their adult lives, whatever that may look like and stop living like students when they aren't one, IMO.

@Noescapefromtheidiots it doesn't sound as if op is desperate for either of her sons to leave home. If she's happy I would do what's she's suggested.

I think you've answered your own question OP.

They're going to be living with you for the foreseeable future, so now is not the right time to downsize to a place that's not big enough to house them both.

Then do you expext the 24 yo to leave home?

what do you think of the caravan idea? When my parents got divorced, my mum had one in my aunt's garden... meant that 4 of us could live with her in her 2.5 bedroom cottage until we were sorted.... And we loved it! Really well designed, though small....

and secodn hand caravans seem to be around £3k....