Garden Room

Gardenn

Hello all,

Has anyone got experience in garden rooms, such as offices or extra bedrooms? We'd like to get one but not sure what we should be going for. It would be to be used as a bedroom, but no kitchen - perhaps running water if budget allows. Any advice appreciated..

Doozergirl

You need planning permission from if it's going to be a bedroom.

Look into that first as local authorities will be pretty strict on what is acceptable. There's no point building a 'garden room' under Permitted Development and getting grassed up by your neighbours because it's actually an annex.

Mutton_Geoff

If it's a bedroom with water then you'll need a toilet. Then the cost of connecting to existing soil ramps up the cost. Budget might then be better spent extending the existing house up or out.

PasturesNew

I wandered into a place that sold these the other week, to ask how much they cost (without having to pick one, or go through a sales pitch).

A wooden structure, suitable for use for sleeping in, with a proper base etc, came in at about £7k....

I was only idling away time, so distance from existing house would be an issue and I'm not sure if any form of drains/plumbing would be included in that. It's easier to get power to it than water to/from it.

For me, I was mulling over whether, for "storage of cr4p/belongings and overnight sleeps by me if I ever had a guest and gave up my bedroom" I'd be better off with a cabin, or putting in some steps up to a loft storage room.

The mix of use/cost will depend on exactly what you're after and why.

Personally, I don't like lofts and can't use loft ladders, so if I wanted to use that space up there I'd need it flooring, velux window tossing in and some fixed stairs of some sort. A cabin seemed it might be a less intrusive, possibly cheaper, way to get that extra space.

tim0121

Hey! creating a garden room is a great idea but you can also go for a green corner in your house.

Nick_C

I think if you add running water it could be considered separate living accommodation, and you might find yourself having to pay Council Tax on it!

Mutton_Geoff

Nick_C wrote: »

I think if you add running water it could be considered separate living accommodation, and you might find yourself having to pay Council Tax on it!

Only if it's wholly self contained :


https://www.gov.uk/council-tax

Nick_C

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

Only if it's wholly self contained :


https://www.gov.uk/council-tax

Define wholly self contained!

There are pages of guidance on this, and the Council Tax Manual is really the place to be looking.

All I'm saying to OP is be careful.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/council-tax-manual/council-tax-practice-notes

Mutton_Geoff

Nick_C wrote: »

Define wholly self contained!

My local council defines it as having it's own entrance, kitchen & bathroom. That would be some impressive garden room.

Nick_C

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

My local council defines it as having it's own entrance, kitchen & bathroom. That would be some impressive garden room.

But your local council doesn't determine whether garden rooms should be separately chargeable. That's done by the VOA.

And your Local Council is not taking account of all the Court rulings in publishing that simplistic advice.

Gardenn

Thank you everyone for your input! We have considered extending, however the appeal of the garden room was that if we got something non-permanent, it would be something we could take with us if we decided to move on.

We're going to keep looking into it, I've even seen some shipping container conversions recently that looked quite good - lots to research!