Will a Garage Conversion Add Value to My Home?
Housing-Market / UK Housing May 28, 2014 - 11:12 AM GMTBy: Nadeem_Walayat
It can be very tempting for home owners in need of living space to contemplate the conversion of their integral or attached garages. However this can turn out to be a huge mistake in terms of it being highly unlikely that you would ever recoup the costs in terms of an increase in your homes value, not unless you live in places such as central London where space carry's a heavy premium.
Instead, it is more likely that a garage conversion will result in a loss of value as it would put off potential buyers, especially if virtually every other house in the street has a garage, but now yours does not.
Therefore you should consider the £5k to £15k of costs as being incurred for your sole benefit, as it won't benefit you at time of resale and instead will likely even result in a loss of value of a few percent, which would especially be true if it were an obvious DIY job done on the cheap.
Instead, If you are in need of extra living space for instance for a home office or a home theatre then look at alternative options available such as having a wooden garden office erected which would usually not need any planning permission and would cost roughly the same as a garage conversion (starting from £10k), which would add some value to your home, possible 2/3rds of the amount spent.
Another option is to look at utilising your garage space other than for storage that does not require any building works such as using part of the garage as a money saving home gym, an investment of £1000 would not only retain most of its value but within a year pay for itself in terms of money saved on expensive monthly gym memberships.
But if you really need the space than look at a temporary option, i.e. use screws to erect a stud wall with so that it can be dismantled, and leave the garage door in place remembering to hang rolls of insulation between the garage door and the new wall. However you will still face a problem when it comes to heating the space.
Off course you could go ahead and fully convert your integral garage if you have the space to build replacement garage, in which case it would probably be cheaper to retain the garage and extend the back of your property.
| Top 15 Value Increasing Home Improvements | Page |
| 1. Home Extensions | 191 |
| Permitted Developments | 191 |
| Planning Applications | 193 |
| 2. Kitchens Sell Houses | 196 |
| 3. Renovate Bathrooms, Add En suites and Toilets | 197 |
| 4. Loft Conversions | 198 |
| 5. Convert Front Lawns into Driveways | 200 |
| 6. Extend Leases and / or Buy Freeholds | 202 |
| 7. Conservatories | 203 |
| Who should avoid Conservatories? | 204 |
| Cooling Conservatories in Summer | 204 |
| Warming Conservatories in Winter | 205 |
| 8. Front and Back Garden Landscaping | 205 |
| Front Landscaping, Cladding or Render | 205 |
| Front Dwarf Walls and Metal Railings | 209 |
| Back Gardens | 213 |
| 9. Replace Tired Old Garden Fences | 214 |
| 10. Tree's Danger, Inspection, Pruning and Removal | 216 |
| Are Your Trees Too Close to Property? | 217 |
| Solar Panels | 217 |
| Tree Dangers | 218 |
| Tree Preservation Orders | 218 |
| Tree Inspection | 218 |
| Hedges, Trees and Neighbours | 220 |
| Cutting Your Neighbours Overhanging Branches | 221 |
| Trees to Avoid Planting | 222 |
| Dealing with Medium Height Trees (Under 10 metres) | 222 |
| Dealing with Tall Trees (Over 10 Metres) | 224 |
| Container Trees | 226 |
| 11. Going Green - Insulation, Green houses and Water Butts | 228 |
| INSULATION | 228 |
| WATER BUTTS | 229 |
| GREEN HOUSE | 229 |
| 12. Storage Space Ideas | 232 |
| Staircase | 232 |
| Converted Lofts | 232 |
| Garages | 234 |
| Sheds | 234 |
| Under House Storage | 234 |
| 13. Replace Flat Roofs with Pitched Roofs | 235 |
| 14. Quick Cheap DIY Ideas to Help Sell Your Home | 237 |
| Replace Bland Old White Switches and Sockets | 237 |
| Light Fittings | 238 |
| Add or Renovate Neglected Flower Baskets | 239 |
| Solar Lights | 240 |
| House Signs and Numbers | 242 |
| Air Fresheners | 243 |
| 15. Painting, Decorating, Cleaning and Maintenance | 244 |
| Ceiling and Wall Plaster Cracks | 244 |
| Painting & Decorating | 244 |
| Carpet Stains | 246 |
| Water Leaks and Maintenance | 247 |
| Exterior Brick Walls Holes and Mortar Repair | 248 |
| Exterior Painting | 250 |
| Decking, Fencing, Garden Furniture and Railings | 251 |
| Lawns | 254 |
| Driveway Pressure Washing and Sharp Sanding | 255 |
| Roofs | 256 |
| Home Improvements to Avoid | 258 |
| 1. Swimming Pools & Garden Ponds | 258 |
| 2. Solar Panel Installations | 260 |
| 3. Garage Conversions | 262 |
| 4. Children's Play Equipment and Areas | 264 |
| 5. Basement Conversions | 267 |
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By Nadeem Walayat
Copyright © 2005-2014 Marketoracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd). All rights reserved.
Nadeem Walayat has over 25 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis focuses on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and housing market. He is the author of five ebook's in the The Inflation Mega-Trend and Stocks Stealth Bull Market series that can be downloaded for Free.
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