Convert garage in town house.

[Ashana]

Hi everyone

I live in a new build house, which has an upside down layout.

On the ground floor, we have a garage, utility room and large kitchen. On the first floor, we have a living room and a bedroom and on the second floor, we have two bedrooms.

We are so used to the upstairs living area and downstairs kitchen but when we have guests over it can be really annoying. Some days I feel like we are just going up and down all day.

We are eventually planning to move but we can't afford to do so at the moment and we are wondering whether it may be an idea to convert the garage into a living space? We currently only use the garage for storage and we park our car on the drive so it would be better use of the space.

The garage isn't huge but I will be able to get a small corner sofa in there and a TV. We will probably only use the room when we get guests over (especially when my mum visits, as she funds it difficult going up and down stairs).

Will converting the garage add value to the house? As in the future we are looking to sell. I'm also worried that if we do put the house on the market in future, potential buyers may be put off by the size of the conversion as they may see it as the main living space.

Hi Ashana,

I'm not too sure on the adding value as i'd imagine it all depends the area you live in and what is in high demand.

I would say to turn a garage to a habitable room it will need to undertake a building regulation application to the Local Authority/approved inspectors to make sure it's safe to house people and may need planning permission should your permitted developments be removed from the property.

If you'd like more advice let me know.

Ab

I’m another saying you may well need planning permission to convert the garage, even if you’re not making any elevational alterations. My local authority tends to remove permitted development for the conversion of garages within new builds because often the parking requirements of the development, particularly in an estate/new street setting will have been assessed taking into account the garage/parking per dwelling.

Also bear in mind that although you don't need the storage, a new owner might consider it essential. Have you got room in your garden for a decent sized shed for all the bikes, garden furniture, tools etc? All well and good if you've already got one though.

Thanks for the replies.

I don't think planning permission will be a problem, as a few of my neighbours have already converted their garages into a living space.

My main concern is will it add value or not? At the moment we just use the garage as a dumping ground for things that we really should get rid of.

We will put a small shed up in the garden for bikes.

I’m not sure it willl add value tbh some people will want that garage. Is the kitchen a kitchen/ Diner or could you now market the conversion as a dining room?

I'd leave a bit of the garage at the front so it's still big enough to house bikes/gardening tools.

Yes it's a kitchen diner. I have a dining table in there and all my kitchen appliances but it's not got a sofa or tv in there so we don't spend a lot of time in there.

Like another pp said, normally with new build town houses the garage is built for the parking ratio required by planning rules so you may not be able to do what you hope.

I have seen a few with the garage converted and think they make the living space more balanced as town houses are top heavy normally, and it will have wider appeal having informal space downstairs plus the additional lounge upstairs.

If you're mid terraced though with no other access to garden (?) I would suggest only converting the back half, making more of a kitchen/diner/snug, and leaving the front as utility/storage space accessed by your garage. Will make it a cheaper conversion too.

But if you're wanting to add/retain value as it's only a short term home I would speak to estate agents to ask about your local values for both options.

There have been quite a few threads on here asking this same Q - lots of people said they would not consider a house without a garage - others have said they would want the extra internal space and would value the conversion.

Figures would be v specific to your locality of costs etc - but it seems overall it doesn’t really add value if it is small cramped and obviously single garage proportions.

So in your case if ROI is important I would get x3 building quotes (+20% contingency) and then ask x3 EAs to value (or you could work it out from RM sold prices.

Upshot seems to be (from previous threads) - do it if you want the space, but don’t expect it to increase the value.

But with a town house this might be different as they are awkward to live in?

My neighbour did this & then did nothing but complain of the noise from people going up & down stairs - noise that they'd never heard before because they hadn't spent any time in the garage. They even made a complaint to the council & got a noise meter from them . Council said it was normal noise from people living in a house...

It also depends on the availability of parking. Is it easy to on the road outside your house.
New build town houses are renowned for poor parking.

I couldn’t live without a garage. Where else would you put tools, bits of wood, bags of compost, lawnmower, pressure washer, hose, plant pots, paint, bikes, scooters, half bottles of chemicals, etc? Where would you paint furniture and repair things and help the kids to build stuff? There isn’t room for all of that in a shed.