Garden or extension - would you sacrifice a large portion?

Doozergirl

zagubov said:

Here in London, houses and gardens are both usually tiny by the standards of the rest of the UK.
But it'd be a no-brainer to extend the house's floorspace as there's a million uses for indoor rooms. Hardly anybody spends much time gardening.

DG's suggestion is interesting.

Our friends' and ours. 

That's their whole garden, but what is anyone going to realistically do to create something more useful than a room in that space?   I think it's preferable to an extension because it's not exactly making the house larger and the garden smaller, it's making garden more sociable and more interesting. 

Ours - tonight our son was out there on his Xbox.  Yesterday we had friends to stay and despite the plan being that we kick one of the kids out to sleep in the garden room, our guests are all really keen to sleep our and have the garden adventure.  Day before that we had date night and started a new series on the big screen;   At one point I wondered what was going on 'at home' and then remembered I was looking at it, just wasn't in the main building.  Day before that, DD was out there revising.!  

lookstraightahead

Doozergirl said:

zagubov said:

Here in London, houses and gardens are both usually tiny by the standards of the rest of the UK.
But it'd be a no-brainer to extend the house's floorspace as there's a million uses for indoor rooms. Hardly anybody spends much time gardening.

DG's suggestion is interesting.

Our friends' and ours. 

That's their whole garden, but what is anyone going to realistically do to create something more useful than a room in that space?   I think it's preferable to an extension because it's not exactly making the house larger and the garden smaller, it's making garden more sociable and more interesting. 

Ours - tonight our son was out there on his Xbox.  Yesterday we had friends to stay and despite the plan being that we kick one of the kids out to sleep in the garden room, our guests are all really keen to sleep our and have the garden adventure.  Day before that we had date night and started a new series on the big screen;   At one point I wondered what was going on 'at home' and then remembered I was looking at it, just wasn't in the main building.  Day before that, DD was out there revising.!  

Omg love those two gardens. What sort of planning permission do you need for something like that? What a fab idea.

Op, we have one big open plan room downstairs (a bit like a small barn conversion) with wide patio doors onto decking and then down steps into a small garden. We only bought it in April but I have only just started closing the doors in the day - I love being inside but with the doors open. So I too would suggest an extension that feels a bit gardeny so you get the best of both worlds, or of course those amazing ideas above.

Doozergirl

lookstraightahead said:

Doozergirl said:

zagubov said:

Here in London, houses and gardens are both usually tiny by the standards of the rest of the UK.
But it'd be a no-brainer to extend the house's floorspace as there's a million uses for indoor rooms. Hardly anybody spends much time gardening.

DG's suggestion is interesting.

Our friends' and ours. 

That's their whole garden, but what is anyone going to realistically do to create something more useful than a room in that space?   I think it's preferable to an extension because it's not exactly making the house larger and the garden smaller, it's making garden more sociable and more interesting. 

Ours - tonight our son was out there on his Xbox.  Yesterday we had friends to stay and despite the plan being that we kick one of the kids out to sleep in the garden room, our guests are all really keen to sleep our and have the garden adventure.  Day before that we had date night and started a new series on the big screen;   At one point I wondered what was going on 'at home' and then remembered I was looking at it, just wasn't in the main building.  Day before that, DD was out there revising.!  

Omg love those two gardens. What sort of planning permission do you need for something like that? What a fab idea.

Op, we have one big open plan room downstairs (a bit like a small barn conversion) with wide patio doors onto decking and then down steps into a small garden. We only bought it in April but I have only just started closing the doors in the day - I love being inside but with the doors open. So I too would suggest an extension that feels a bit gardeny so you get the best of both worlds, or of course those amazing ideas above.

There isn't a particularly good short answer to the planning permission question, but for most people, who aren't in designated areas or listed houses, something can be built under permitted development rights, particularly if it's under 2.5m, but depending on the siting it can be taller.  Every house will be different. 

Building regulations is something else.  Most people don't build to them, using exemptions, but I think if you're investing that much money you want it to stay standing and warm! 

Bendy_House

davilown said:

Thanks everyone for your comments.

it’ll be a 4m deep x 5m wide solid brick/tiled extension with sloping roof (open rafters on the inside with velux windows), leaving almost 8m of garden depth.

I love to mow the lawn and cut a few hedges/trees back but that’s it at the moment with work etc.

We sit out occasionally but do like to sit indoors with the doors open in good weather.

Costing is important - looking at around £40k including a reasonable kitchen. Most of the work once first fix has been completed will be done by me except the plastering and electrics.

we’d love a garden room but we currently only have 2 beds, a pokey kitchen and a small living/dining area (6mx3.1m max). No room for a desk and working from home/spare bed for visitors.

Based on everything that Davil has said - size of garden, outlook beyond garden, sizes of current and proposed rooms, their current downstairs layout, and what they'd hope to use this extra room for, I'd have thought that the proper extension they are already considering is the way to go.

A 4x5m extension in place of a 3x3 conservatory is going to make only a marginal difference to the remaining size of the garden, and - being attached to the house - this room can be used for pretty much anything. Ie, you wouldn't fit your kitchen, dining, or main sitting room separately at the far end of your garden. 

Doozer's, and her friends' garden rooms are superb things, and we'd all love to have one :-) An interesting difference, tho', which I think could have some bearing on Davil's decision re the 'Ext vs Gdn Rm' question, is that D's friend appears to have open woodland beyond their garden? Or at least the neighb on that side has a lovely row of trees along that boundary. Davil has explained that they have protected woodland beyond their end fence - the lucky things - so that to me immediately says to build an extension room as part of the house, probably with bifolds, or at least a lot of glass, to take full advantage of their incredibly fortunate outlook, and not to partially block it. Although their garden room is truly stunning, I'm a bit surprised that D's friend would have built it where it blocks off part of that view, although on the other hand, it does make that room's 'setting' rather special.

I don't think I'd struggle with that choice.

Bendy_House

What's your current layout, Davil? Which room(s) are currently along that rear of the house, and what would you want to use the ext room for?

Doozergirl

Bendy_House said:

davilown said:

Thanks everyone for your comments.

it’ll be a 4m deep x 5m wide solid brick/tiled extension with sloping roof (open rafters on the inside with velux windows), leaving almost 8m of garden depth.

I love to mow the lawn and cut a few hedges/trees back but that’s it at the moment with work etc.

We sit out occasionally but do like to sit indoors with the doors open in good weather.

Costing is important - looking at around £40k including a reasonable kitchen. Most of the work once first fix has been completed will be done by me except the plastering and electrics.

we’d love a garden room but we currently only have 2 beds, a pokey kitchen and a small living/dining area (6mx3.1m max). No room for a desk and working from home/spare bed for visitors.

Based on everything that Davil has said - size of garden, outlook beyond garden, sizes of current and proposed rooms, their current downstairs layout, and what they'd hope to use this extra room for, I'd have thought that the proper extension they are already considering is the way to go.

A 4x5m extension in place of a 3x3 conservatory is going to make only a marginal difference to the remaining size of the garden, and - being attached to the house - this room can be used for pretty much anything. Ie, you wouldn't fit your kitchen, dining, or main sitting room separately at the far end of your garden. 

Doozer's, and her friends' garden rooms are superb things, and we'd all love to have one :-) An interesting difference, tho', which I think could have some bearing on Davil's decision re the 'Ext vs Gdn Rm' question, is that D's friend appears to have open woodland beyond their garden? Or at least the neighb on that side has a lovely row of trees along that boundary. Davil has explained that they have protected woodland beyond their end fence - the lucky things - so that to me immediately says to build an extension room as part of the house, probably with bifolds, or at least a lot of glass, to take full advantage of their incredibly fortunate outlook, and not to partially block it. Although their garden room is truly stunning, I'm a bit surprised that D's friend would have built it where it blocks off part of that view, although on the other hand, it does make that room's 'setting' rather special.

I don't think I'd struggle with that choice.

Yeah, it's not woodland.  It's the embankment of the mainline train line from Clapham Junction! 😂

Thrugelmir

zagubov said:

Hardly anybody spends much time gardening.

You'd be surprised. 

We are looking to move. Number of properties we discard immediately purely down to the outdoor space. As much as the property itself has huge appeal. 

MovingForwards

Thrugelmir said:

zagubov said:

Hardly anybody spends much time gardening.

You'd be surprised. 

We are looking to move. Number of properties we discard immediately purely down to the outdoor space. As much as the property itself has huge appeal. 

Similar situation, I'm looking to see what's available for my budget.

I look at the garden photos first and if it appears to be what size, or bigger, I want I'll then look at the property photos. Following that I look at the floor plan as I can make nearly anything inside work.

If the extension has taken up too much of the garden I'll move on to the next property.

davilown

Doozergirl said:

zagubov said:

Here in London, houses and gardens are both usually tiny by the standards of the rest of the UK.
But it'd be a no-brainer to extend the house's floorspace as there's a million uses for indoor rooms. Hardly anybody spends much time gardening.

DG's suggestion is interesting.

Our friends' and ours. 

That's their whole garden, but what is anyone going to realistically do to create something more useful than a room in that space?   I think it's preferable to an extension because it's not exactly making the house larger and the garden smaller, it's making garden more sociable and more interesting. 

Ours - tonight our son was out there on his Xbox.  Yesterday we had friends to stay and despite the plan being that we kick one of the kids out to sleep in the garden room, our guests are all really keen to sleep our and have the garden adventure.  Day before that we had date night and started a new series on the big screen;   At one point I wondered what was going on 'at home' and then remembered I was looking at it, just wasn't in the main building.  Day before that, DD was out there revising.!  

That’s great - thanks for posting the pics as it shows real ideas come into fruition. I’d assume they’d be a lot cheaper than an extension?

Doozergirl

davilown said:

Doozergirl said:

zagubov said:

Here in London, houses and gardens are both usually tiny by the standards of the rest of the UK.
But it'd be a no-brainer to extend the house's floorspace as there's a million uses for indoor rooms. Hardly anybody spends much time gardening.

DG's suggestion is interesting.

Our friends' and ours. 

That's their whole garden, but what is anyone going to realistically do to create something more useful than a room in that space?   I think it's preferable to an extension because it's not exactly making the house larger and the garden smaller, it's making garden more sociable and more interesting. 

Ours - tonight our son was out there on his Xbox.  Yesterday we had friends to stay and despite the plan being that we kick one of the kids out to sleep in the garden room, our guests are all really keen to sleep our and have the garden adventure.  Day before that we had date night and started a new series on the big screen;   At one point I wondered what was going on 'at home' and then remembered I was looking at it, just wasn't in the main building.  Day before that, DD was out there revising.!  

That’s great - thanks for posting the pics as it shows real ideas come into fruition. I’d assume they’d be a lot cheaper than an extension?

It depends.   Personally, I want them to be done properly and last, so they are the same price as an extension.  They're built from SIPs, just like our house is.  

There's a full price range, but you should compare carefully what is on offer, because one apparently large company with celebrity endorsement will sell you a glorified shed with no footings for £30k.