Converting garage to a bedroom

[clairebear610]

Does anyone have any experience of converting a garage into a bedroom please and how much it would cost roughly? We are hoping to do this later in the year if we can afford it and I'd love to get an idea of roughly what sort of cost we'd be looking at. Ideally we would add a little en-suite too. Would we need planning permission? Any other things we need to consider? Thanks.

Anyone? Thanks

Is it attached to your house?
Single skin? Single or double garage?

There's 100s of variables but yes I would think you'll need change of use.

Depends on your area as to the planning - most don't need it. Will need building control

Thank you. Yes attached to our house. Single storey. Single garage.

I've started the process - I paid £1k for an architect to draw plans and do the building regulations application which was another £300ish. I've got a builder who quoted £15k to convert the room and build the bones of the en suite and I'm waiting for a quote from a plumber to fit a saniflo bathroom so who knows what that will cost. I'm hoping to pay around £25k all in but let's see

Thanks so much @CloseYourEyesAndSee, that is really helpful. I was hoping for around that figure. Do you mind me asking whereabouts you are in case location is a factor? We are in Surrey. Thanks!

Did the original garage need PP? Or was it built as part of the house originally? If there was a condition on any original PP restricting the use of the garage to parking purposes, PP will be required to relax that condition.

PP may also be required if you are making any changes to the external appearance - putting in new windows etc.

@clairebear610

Thanks so much *@CloseYourEyesAndSee*, that is really helpful. I was hoping for around that figure. Do you mind me asking whereabouts you are in case location is a factor? We are in Surrey. Thanks!

I'm in the south east so similar price wise. My builder is a friend of my brother so I know he won't be ripping me off so do get several quotes as prices can vary madly. I found two architects who both quoted over £2k for the drawings before I found the one I went with...

To be honest I'm not sure @Seeline as it was there when we bought the house. I will try to find out. Thanks for the info.
@CloseYourEyesAndSee does your estimate of £25k include vat? Thanks

We converted our garage into a utility and tv room in 2019. So not the same but similar in that it needed plumbing, etc. we paid £18k all in. We used a technical drawer rather than architect, he charged £1000 all in including planning (original drawings included for building over garage, but we decided against that). We wouldn't have needed planning without the second storey, just building control.
One thing to look out for (depending on the age of the house) is asbestos in the ceiling. Ours is 1970's and had asbestos, which cost £1900 to remove! We were quoted much more than that by sone companies.
The actual work was around £12k then the added extras, white goods, floors, etc all in all we spent £18.

Amazing, thanks @afromom, thats really helpful. I think perhaps the amount @CloseYourEyesAndSee mentioned of £25k would be roughly correct for us then which is exciting as it means we'd have some money left in our pot to do some other work we would like (such as a new porch, rendering and a new fireplace and wooden floorboards).

The house at have has an integrated garage that has been converted to a room. I WFH in it and it is freezing, couldnt use as a bedroom. I would make sure whatever needs done to insulate it properly is done during your conversion.

@WeAllHaveWings

The house at have has an integrated garage that has been converted to a room. I WFH in it and it is freezing, couldnt use as a bedroom. I would make sure whatever needs done to insulate it properly is done during your conversion.

Part of our garage is converted to a utility and bathroom (was done~ 8 years ago). It is the best insulated part of the house and is much warmer than our bedrooms (rest of the house has solid walls so no insulation).

We converted our garage into a playroom many years ago although it was done by a friend as a foreigner.
We didn't need planning permission but we did have to submit a rough plan to the LA and confirm that we would be maintaining a certain number of parking spaces after the loss of the garage - bizarrely they count a garage as a parking space even though hardly anyone can get their car in it!
We also had to pay for building regs inspection.
It is one of the coldest rooms in the house though so would definitely focus on insulation and good quality heating.

We also paid about £25k in SE which included an en-suite with shower. In our case detached garage which we use as garden room/teen den/gym. We kept front garage door and built a false wall behind if - so from front still looks like garage. Back is onto garden with big windows/doors. We went low spec on en-suite - basic tiles, sanitary ware etc. Basic lighting and flooring. I looks good but it's all basic

No planning permission required. And we didn't get any plans drawn up - showed sketches to our builder who worked from that.

I was worried about it being cold but it's been used in winter quite happily.

Should have said we insulated the walls between wall and plasterboard but not the fooor

As a Planner, can I advise you, you don't need plans to convert a garage and certainly not to the tune of £1000+. Absolutely ridiculous. Some builders are reluctant to do work without plans but mostly because they want someone to blame if it goes wrong. You can start works within 48 hours on a building notice if you know what you're doing. If you can find a good builder who is willing to do that it can save you thousands.

What happens to the spiders?

Thanks so much all, that's really helpful. Will definitely make sure we look into insulation too.

Is it integral or to the side of your house? If the latter, what is the roof structure as that will affect costs

I had an integrated garage (had already been extended to a tandem garage before I moved in, so I kept half as a single garage) converted to a playroom in 2018. Insulated, roof light, plastered etc for around £6k. No planning permission just building regs. I'm West Sussex.

We turned an integral double garage into large bedroom with ensuite toilet and shower. We blocked in both doors and added 5 large windows and a door. DH reckons it was about £30000 all in.

Hi all, thanks for your help. One more question please...this is our current floor plan. Although it wouldn't be massive do you think there is enough floor space to do the conversion from garage into a bedroom with small toilet/shower? (We would need to reduce the size very slightly to continue the path at the side of the kitchen for full side access for bins etc as shown in the second picture). Thanks all.