4 bed plus integral garage or 5 bed no garage ?

[aroundanothercorner]

We are planning an extension to a 3 bed house. At present we have 2 double & 1 single bedroom & integral garage. If you were a potential purchaser would you definitely want a garage with a 4 bed family home? We can get 3 cars on the drive. Obviously the 5th bedroom would be downstairs and we would probably use it more as a study/den.

We want a downstairs bedroom but only if it is a full sized double with its own en suite - anything else is actually more of a teenage den as families don't like young DC downstairs.

If you are downsizing in 5 years I would be loathe to spend the money on a garage conversion.

Very few integrated garages fit a full size family car -height, width or length.

If you've a front yard big enough for off-road parking, and adequate storage for bikes etc, why bother with a garage?

Ours is 5 beds with one bedroom downstairs - it’s great for elderly grandparents not having to go upstairs. Plus it’s an excellent dumping ground when they’re not here.

Cinema / media room is a no-brainer - a second living room catering specifically to those activities adds real value given current lifestyles, and frees the main living area from the dominance of the TV, consoles, etc. But not a bedroom - no one wants a downstairs bedroom.

5 bed definitely. Wouldn't care if one was downstairs.

Garage for me. But I guess it depends how much stuff you tend to store.

no one wants a downstairs bedroom
I find this an interesting take as grew up on an estate of dormer bungalows where the main bedroom was downstairs.

We did the same extension last year with a lot of deliberation, and we love the end result. We converted the garage to living space, which is currently a study/den with tv/xbox etc, meaning that the living room stays cosy and tidy, and then a big kitchen/diner. The study is big enough to be a bedroom if it's ever needed, but we have 4 upstairs which is plenty. Shed in the garden, parking for 3 cars on the drive and we don't miss the garage. We chose not to worry about potential purchasers as we're not planning on selling, and in fact I think the majority would choose extra living space anyway, as shown here.

Garages are completely pointless. I would much rather have a nice big study.

Actually I do think that would be imbalanced living for a five bed. To me a real 5 bed would have the kitchen diner and large lounge, plus a family room (smaller lounge), seperate dining room and utility as a minimum.

I agree with this.

My parents house is a 4 bed with two living rooms (one a living/dining room). The sitting room has a sofa bed for the occasional overflow guest, but is predominantly a living space, and my mum said it was vital when they had mixed age teens etc in the house.

For myself, I'd be looking for a 3/4 bed in future with a similar arrangement - a focus on living space downstairs with a room that could be shared between study/guest bedroom purposes.

As long as the garden had a decent shed I wouldn't need a garage, unless it was doubling as a utility.

I'm looking to buy at the moment , the house I loved had converted the garage to a living room, my husband disliked it as this left the house with no where to put stuff (despite having room for a shed he wants somewhere to put extra freezer and not go outside and his camping stuff so it doesn't get damp)

So I guess like someone else says both are fine just will attract different buyers

Most important room in the house, IMHO, is the utility - with independent outside access and big enough to do lots of functions - mud / boot room, dog washing room, storage, laundry, - if your utility can do this then convert the garage to a flexible room - what you or others choose to do with it - office, bedroom, family room can then be decided and changed as circumstances change.

Something else to think about is how much storage space you can create elsewhere in the house. We have a large utility room and airing cupboard, and built in cupboards in the hallway and understairs, so coupled with the shed, there's plenty of space for camping gear, tools and other stuff that was previously in the garage.

"Garages are completely pointless."

To you maybe, but not to us. We don't have a lot of parking space so one of the cars goes in the garage and one goes in the drive.

We have a sports bags & dog clutter utility room, downstairs & upstairs hall cupboards but the loft is not much use. Am coming round to keep the garage.

Why don’t you have a really good think about what you need to store, not what you actually currently store?

I’ve just done our house and was able to get rid, easily, of half of what we had. In garage I reckon I could get to 70 or 80%.

Then decide.

I think half of us spend a lot of time looking for new ways or storing and organising stuff we don’t need.

Garages aren't pointless and sometimes a shed isn't sufficient. I know people who keep work tools in theirs, one friend has a small boat in his, others use theirs for kayaks and motorbikes. I find the comments saying "nobody puts a car in one so why bother" a bit weird to be honest.

Short answer - have a garage, a future buyer may want it and if they don't, they can have the hassle and expense of converting it.

DH has a hatred of converted garages. He doesn't trust that the build quality will be the same as the rest of the house. His experience is they tend to be cold and damp, especially when used as bedrooms.