Converting garage into study

[Aria20]

Looking at putting an offer in on a house. This is the current ground floor. The garage has partially been converted into utility room leaving a small bit of garage left.

Anyone with knowledge know if the small bit of garage left could be converted easily into study and what permission I'd need. I'd put a window on to match the other windows and ideally have an entrance door from the hallway. I believe it's approx 2.3x2.3 so obviously small but all it needs is a desk and chair and I could pinch a bit off the utility room I expect if needed. Any ideas on costs involved?

Thanks!

Oops forgot to attach

For the amount it would likely cost you compared to the usable space you would achieve I think you may be better off getting a garden office - providing the garden is a decent size.

I suspect the owners did the partial conversion so that they wouldn't need to get planning permission. If there are gas and electricity meters which would need to be moved this will add to the expense and can be time consuming working with the gas and electricity providers to physically move them.

You shouldn't need planning permission just building regs signed off as it's an integral garage. Ring building control at your local council to check for your area.

You may need planning permission depending on the age of the house. Though normally it would be permitted development sometimes councils remove the permitted development rights on newer houses as a condition of the original planning (this happened in a house where we converted the garage) so we needed planning permission before we were able to do the conversion.

Depending on how new it is and the council you can find out by searching for the original planning documents on the council's planning portal or the local planning officer should be able to tell you.

My friend converted hers in much the same way as you are planning and required planning permission.

We are just looking at converting ours into a utility and office space. Have you considered putting a bay window on the front to make the garage space bigger? You would definitely needing planning if you did that otherwise would be permitted development

The utility is very unnecessarily big compared to thr other living areas , I'd reduce that and have a better sized office by moving the partition up a bit . It's easily done though and won't cost much to get a window put in.

@gunnersgold yes this is what I thought I'd take a bit back off the utility to give a bit more study.
@Waspie good point about metres, I'm not sure where they are located, I will find out... I probably wouldn't want to move them but perhaps I could put a cupboard around them to hide them so to speak!
@confuseddotcom1234 a bay window would definitely add more space and is something I'd consider but I'd then also want to do the same on the living room so may be too costly?!

@SollaSollew I believe built in 1997/1998 if that helps re planning permission/building regs

As others have said, you need building regulations sign off, and make sure you get it as if you come to sell the house the future buyers will want to see it's signed off :)

Check with council about planning permission too, though check for covenants on your deeds first in case there are any saying garages can only be used for parking, as you might not want to bring it to the council's attention if there are! Likewise if the previous occupants didn't get building regulations for the utility room conversion too.

Building regulations advise what you'll need to do in the way of insulation and damp proofing etc, good guide here:
www.fmb.org.uk/find-a-builder/ultimate-guides-to-home-renovation/garage-conversions-the-ultimate-guide.html

I am in a very similar situation but in my case there is a restrictive covenant on the use of the garage - but at least 5 houses in the road have converted, would you risk it?

Just check no restrictions on converting garage. Phase 2 of our estate has restriction on converting garages. I know some have done what your seller has - part converted but hidden by garage door. I think restriction was in place to prevent parking issues (not that anyone parks in garage anyway) But if someone has done a part conversion like this I’d think there’s a reason.

Phase 1 where we are has no such restriction so you could easily drive around and think I’ll do what house over there has done not realising difference in covenant phase 1 and 2 , all the houses look the same.

We've just done that on a similar aged house. We didn't need planning permission, just building regs. However because we were 'removing a parking space' (ie the garage) we had to replace it with a parking bay in our front yard. Zone 4 London which is probably why we had that.

Sorry didn’t mean to try and derail - will start my own thread

@JohnLapsleyParlabane the current owners have paved the whole front into a drive for 2 cars so hopefully not an issue regarding parking. From driving along looks like several have converted garages.

Have a look at planning and you may be able to see their garage conversion plans online depending when they did it. Lots of estates built in the last 30 years have had their permitted development rights removed. You have to apply for planning but it is free if it would normally come under permitted development (mine was) and building regs. Both planning and building regs will be on the council planning for the house.

Garage conversions are really common as a lot of modern cars do not fit inside the garages. If you are going to remove the garage door match the new window into the existing windows as it looks far better than just filling the door space with a window. The main concern is parking and then storage. Where will you store the garden power tools that are usually kept in the garage? Is there a shed?

We converted our whole garage to a room.
We needed planning permission as we're in a conservation area.
We got a completion certificate for it and had it built with plenty of insulation. The biggest expense was the window which had to be made to measure.
The meters we just built a cupboard around, it looked fine.

We have a virtually identical house to this and have a partial garage conversion to a large utility room. Quotes to make this smaller and convert the remaining garage to a snug were around 8500 and building regs were needed. We live in the north west.

@Freddiesmyboy thanks that's good to know it's not too much money to do and relatively easy.

I'd have the door going from the hallway, nicer than having to go through a utility room and easier to answer the front door quickly if the bell rings.