Garage conversion

[afrikat]

Has anyone done one and can I get an idea of costs? It is currently a double garage and I want to split it, so a single garage is left and the other half is a reception room. It would need knocking through to the main house, garage door removing / window added. No plumbing etc needed.
Is planning permission usually required?

We did similar around 3 years ago to create a study/music room. We already had a door through to our hallway but needed a new single garage door for remaining half of garage, fire door between garage and the new conversion and two windows, one of which involved knocking through the side wall. We are in Scotland and we had to satisfy building regulations but did not require planning permission. The cost was £12,000 which included VAT. For us it was an affordable way of adding space without compromising our relatively modest garden.

Is it a recently built house?
If so, check the planning for original house in case converting garage is excluded form Permitted Development. It often is

Thanks both. That cost sounds really reasonable, much better than an extension
It's not a new house, no

Yes, I think it’s seen as one of the most cost effective ways to increase living space. I did notice that after we did ours there was a handful of houses following suit. One thing definitely worth mentioning is how the conversion looks from the outside. We made sure that the brickwork and windows matched the rest of the house and windows were placed to make best use of the light and space not simply filling in the gap left by the old garage door. I can think of two ‘obvious’ conversions beside us that have detracted from the houses’ kerb appeal.
My view was that a good garage conversion is probably cost neutral ie won’t add or detract value whilst we benefit from the additional space but a bad or ugly conversion might well be offputting or devalue your house.

Also we did have trouble getting quotes from building firms at the time since they were so busy so the £12,000 paid was probably a wee bit over the odds. We did add more electrical points and a solid wood floor though. Our architect had said to budget £10,000-£11,000.

We moved into a townhouse where pervious owner had converted the garage (without planning permission but that's another story).
He had also installed (and left) really nice bookcases and storage along the long wall.
Trouble is, that made an already long thin room look longer and thinner.
Neighbours in identical house had also converted but created wall to wall walk in storage along the short back wall which made the room a much better shape, albeit smaller