Buying a garage- what to consider?

Grumpy_chap

theartfullodger said:

Maintenance, rebuild costs, admin to chase up late payers etc etc etc.

Last garage I bought cost £200.  How much are you expecting to pay, please

That's exceedingly cheap.  Where and when can I buy a garage at £200?  Or do you mean £200k?

Garages in my area rent for £150 per month upwards.

To buy a garage, the lowest expectation is £25-30k in my area.  I was after a garage in my road December 2019, but the auction closed well-outside my price range at £113,500!  The same garage is back at auction soon with "guide price" £125k.

One very important factor to check prior to acquisition is that the garage (en-block) is not restricted by covenant on the original property title that the garage can only be used as incidental to the main residential property.

Slithery

Ray_Singh-Blue said:

At the moment the garages look like they have been bombed.

And how much is it going to cost to rebuild them?

SDLT_Geek

Ray_Singh-Blue said:

At the moment the garages look like they have been bombed. The parking spaces have cars in them. Less than £125K. Many thanks

At a price of £125,000 for the lot there would be no stamp duty land tax to pay.  Do not let anyone tell you that the extra 3% SDLT applies, that only applies to "dwellings".

Ray_Singh-Blue

Slithery said:

And how much is it going to cost to rebuild them?

I reckon they could be patched up for £10K. Maybe £20K.

Ray_Singh-Blue

Anyone know if there are ongoing charges like rates/ council tax or similar? Sorry if that's a basic question, it's new to me.

eddddy

Ray_Singh-Blue said:

Anyone know if there are ongoing charges like rates/ council tax or similar? Sorry if that's a basic question, it's new to me.

As I understand it, it's for the Valuation Office Agency to decide whether each lock-up garage is liable for business rates - based on whether it's being used for commercial purposes.

But if you rent a garage out, the agreement would typically be that the tenant is responsible for paying business rates.

I think you can get relief from Business Rates for up to 3 months, if a property is empty (i.e. between rentals)



On a different topic - just to double check, what tenure of the garages is being sold? Presumably, they are Freehold with vacant possession?

I ask because you often see freehold garage blocks for sale in auctions, where the garages have all been sold on long leases.

Or if the garage block is being sold as leasehold - that would be a very different proposition.

Ray_Singh-Blue

Good point, thanks. I checked: freehold with vacant possession.

jimbog

Nearly did the same but then measured them to find the car doors wouldn’t open once inside. 

Also, even if your car fits would other people’s?

lincroft1710

Providing it is used to house a private car a single lock up garage is not subject to business rates or council tax.


Regarding suitability as a building plot, architects/developers can come up with some very ingenious schemes for supposedly awkward sites

Ray_Singh-Blue

Thanks. Do you know if this also generally applies to a block of several garages, in a row?