If you’re searching for a means to expand your living space, you may have considered a house addition but been put off by the amount of lawn area you’d lose. If this describes you, it’s likely that you’ve contemplated a loft conversion. Is a garage conversion, however, a better option?
Many garages in Glasgow are underused.
While you may believe that your garage is a necessary and fundamental feature of your house, the odds are that it isn’t. Around 4.6 million garages in the UK are no longer used to keeping automobiles, with the family car parked on the drive and the garage converted into a storage space for chest freezers, lawnmowers, and garden toys. While you may honestly feel you need extra storage space, take a look at what you’re storing. Perhaps you could keep some of it in a separate location? Isn’t it possible that it all belongs in a skip?
Even if you have a big plan to clean out the garage one day, you may discover that after you get your car out of the cold and into the garage, you can’t get out. That’s because many garages in the UK are relics of 1950s suburban homes with garages built to fit 1950s motors. If you’ve ever seen a current Mini Cooper parked next to its original Mini predecessor, you’ll notice how much larger the current vehicles are. This means that a considerable portion of the population is unable to fit inside a standard-sized contemporary vehicle.
Garage conversions may enhance the appearance of a home.
While garage door designs have progressed a lot since the 1950s, if an up-and-over sheet metal garage door is still part of your home’s front façade, it may be time to explore the aesthetic benefits of a conversion.
A garage conversion would not only transform your home’s interior area, but it would also transform its outside aspect, replacing that unsightly garage box with a new room replete with modern windows that allow in plenty of beautiful natural light.
Given the preceding considerations, it should come as no surprise that improving a property’s curb appeal as well as the quantity of indoor living space nearly always raises its market value. In reality, the average conversion raises the value of a home by around 10%. To put this in context, the average house price in the UK is presently £200,500, implying that a garage conversion could add £23,200 to the value of the average property.
Is it possible to get planning permission? Not all of the time.
If the garage isn’t a listed structure, many garage conversions are likely to be termed “permitted development.” If your property is relatively new, you may want to double-check the lease’s exact terms and conditions. It’s probable that a requirement in the house’s initial planning clearance required that a garage be used for parking to keep the roadway clean. In this instance, you’ll need to submit a change-of-use application to the local planning department.
Is converting your garage a good idea for you?
Finally, a garage conversion isn’t the perfect home modification for you if you’re a petrolhead who keeps his or her pride and joy protected from the weather in your garage, or if you use it as a workshop. However, for many homeowners, the garage is a gloomy, dingy trash storage area that is rarely visited. It may, however, be quickly and inexpensively transformed into a lovely new kitchen extension, playroom, or dining room.
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