Is a garden room worth it

[Bellavida99]

We have a semi detached house on a corner plot so have a big triangle of side garden that doesn’t get used. I really want a garden room there. Haven’t got money to spend a lot but have seen 17x10foot ones on Dunster house for around £6k. I work from home but doubt I’ll use it for work. Kids are late teens and probably over wanting it for movie nights with friends etc. so I don’t know if we’ll use it. But I really want one. Also is it a good selling point as we won’t be here forever?

My DS bought a house with one because he may get a lodger and this would allow him to offer WFH for a lodger (with extra heating cost). As WFH is so prevalent he thought it might be an advantage. It has ethernet and electric. In the meantime, he will use it as a recreational room. At the very moment (moved in 8 weeks ago) it's still a store for boxes which he is slowing unpacking and recycling.

I've fancied one as a work office and art room as my father lives with us. I even got a fully erected price from a company until their constant sales pressure as I was deciding put me off. But as Dads dementia has progressed I'd rather work in the house itself.

I think for teens it would be fab!

It all comes down to cost and I don't think it adds much to a house but the small 3 beds he viewed with a decent one, and with electric and wifi, all sold quite quickly. That implies they may have got closer to asking price than the houses that hang around, but I don't know.

We are probably going to get one for our new place and have been advised by agents it would add value in this area (and the garden is large enough) however I'm a bit concerned whether in 20 years' time they will be like conservatories are now, dilapidated and with the hassle of upkeep outweighing the benefit. My guess is you'd need to sell while it was still in good nick to make your money back. The prefab/kit ones say they will last 25 years, but I don't think they've been around long enough to really test that.

I have a sort of oddly triangular ish garden room I added in 2022 I use as a sewing/craft room. It's added an estimated£40 to £50k to my recent house valuation as we only had an open plan living dining kitchen. I use it daily and we have breakfast on the little terrace every day weather permitting.

If you'd love one, go for it! Enjoy it now and don't worry about resale value. Unless it's rotten and removal will cost the buyers it certainly won't make selling your house harder.
(If I had a spare corner of my garden I'd plant an orchard...)

You would need to budget much more than £6K though for a decent one. Unless it’s properly insulated it will be unusable for most of the year. Fine for a shed but not for an office. Also you need to get a base laid, and hire an electrician for the power supply. I got mine in 2021 and spent about £20K.

I can't comment on the value add - but coincidentally I spent last weekend taking down our neighbours 12 year old Dunster log cabin (used as a garden office) and re-erecting it on our property. This is very well insulated roof and under floor.
It had been neglected - but came to bits and reassembled readily and a few coats of wood preserver really sorted the outside. So if looked after I think that 20-25 years looking pretty good is probably perfectly reasonable.
This is what it looks like now.

Agree with the poster above - ground work and electrics cost and the electrics aren't diy.

I think they will be seen as a liability target then at as they get older. I've seen a few coming up on Freecycle.

If you have a side garden then a real extension will be a much better solution, but also more money.

We have one that is used as an office and will also be a gym when our building work finishes and we can clear the furniture and boxes that are stored there in the meantime. I can't wait to get some weights etc in there and it will save a fortune on gym membership. It also blocks an otherwise unpleasant view and gives us privacy so that alone is worth it.

I'm sorry, but a garden room has not added £40-£50k to your house's value.

It's got a hot tub with flyover and brick built patio and we are in a very expensive area but if you think you know better than the 3 agents we've had round recently ill bow to your superior knowledge.

I think the agents are telling you what you want to hear.

We have built a side extension and this triangle is to the side and behind extension so it is kind of wasted space.

Good to see they last a while thank you

We’ve got most of the base there already as the house had a detached garage at the side but we built an integral garage with bedroom above extension. So the old concrete garage base is still there we’ve just covered it with pebbles and potted grasses so just need to scrape up the stones and should be ok to go. But yes we need electrics I guess thanks

My son's has an ethernet cable laid to it as well. For decent broadband

Ours has been brilliant for separating work and home life. We went with Urban Pods because we wanted something that looked good and didn’t need loads of faff to get set up.

It’s insulated well, so I’ve used it year-round without any issues. Definitely helped with WFH burnout and gave us back a bit of indoor space too.