Garage conversion on potential purchase

patchyX2

A house has come on the market that we like the look of. It has a garage that's separated from the house via a 'walk through' (sorry, not sure of the correct term!), hopefully the pic below explains it. 



In its current state, its not big enough for us long term, but if we could connect the garage to the house and get rid of the walk through, that would work.

Are there likely to be any hurdles planning wise in doing this? We could keep the front appearance exactly the same if required, so I assume this would be straight forward, but seeing as it's a potential deal-breaker, it would be nice to be confident beforehand.

Ideally we'd go above the garage, but that is a nice-to-have and I realise would be more risky from a planning perspective. So we'd settle for single storey. 

user1977

Apart from the matter of getting consents, consider the practicalities too - it was built for use as a garage, so (I guess) the insulation is minimal. Demolishing it and building something else may make more sense than "converting" it, if by that you mean keeping most of the structure.

Are there similar properties which have converted/extended? That's usually a good guide. It's not usually regarded as an outrageous development proposal.

ProDave

I would not dream of converting that garage, it will be a poor extension, it is just not built to be anything more than a rain shelter for a car.

Instead I would look at knocking down the garage and building a properly built 2 storey side extension to the house. Then you will get the width of the garage plus the width of the walkway for the extension, properly joined to the house and properly built (almost certainly better insulated than the rest of the house)

The only issue might be parking space.  You would be removing one (seldom used) parking space, the garage, and adding 1 or more bedrooms so planning may require you create more off road parking.  You could achieve that by paving over the front lawn, unless there is another planning policy saying no to that.  Have other houses in the street done a proper side extension in place of the garage?

trailingspouse

You can apply for outline planning permission before you buy the house. Call your local planning department to discuss.

Unless you intend for this to be your forever home, think about the implications for re-sale. Most people don't 'garage the car' any more, but they still use the garage for storing gardening equipment, tools, garden chairs etc over winter, the bikes and so on - where will all those things go if the garage is part of the house? Also, how will you move things (eg lawnmower) from the front to the back of the house if you get rid of the walk-through?

Section62

PledgeX2 said:

In its current state, its not big enough for us long term, but if we could connect the garage to the house and get rid of the walk through, that would work.

Difficult to see how you could do a worthwhile conversion (which maintains or adds value) without getting planning consent and doing the job properly.  If you need planning consent, then as you'd be building close to the neighbour's flank wall then a two storey extension is unlikely to be significantly more of an issue than a single storey one, provided you have a design which visually maintains separation between the two properties.

Also take into account what the loss of the passageway(?) would mean in terms of using and maintaining the rear garden.  Would you want to carry garden waste/materials through the house?

IMV a two-storey side extension, with the passageway retained but moved to run along the boundary side, would be a good outcome and probably not an issue for the planners.  Having the extension roof slightly lower, and the front wall set back a little would likely resolve any issues there may be with visual separation between yours and the neighbour.

TripleH

Our garage is part of the house and even then not great for insulation.

I'd be inclined to knock it down and build a garage with bedroom on top onto the house and remove any walkway.

Look around the area at neighbours to seecif anyone else has done that, I suspect its easier to take advantage of something simular than doing something new.

dimbo61

Check if you can do a single storey  side extension under permitted development  in the area where this house is ?
It would cost more to apply for full planning to have a 2 storey  extension and build it.
However without knowing what you and your family want ? need ? and can afford !
So is it a downstairs WC and basin or full walk in shower and wet room? Bigger kitchen/dinning room with patio doors overlooking the garden or the new master bedroom with ensuite and balcony overlooking the 5 acre rear garden ?

FreeBear

user1977 said:

Apart from the matter of getting consents, consider the practicalities too - it was built for use as a garage, so (I guess) the insulation is minimal. Demolishing it and building something else may make more sense than "converting" it, if by that you mean keeping most of the structure.

Single skin (~100mm) walls, zero insulation in the roof or floor. Base slab probably lacks a damp proof membrane. Foundations will only be deep & wide enough for the existing structure. To plonk an extension on top will require digging under the foundations to underpin, removal of the concrete slab plus a lot of spoil, and that is before you start reinforcing the walls.

Demolish, and rebuild from anew is the most sensible option. But if you are adding an extra bedroom, planning may require additional parking within the boundary of the property.

Section62

dimbo61 said:

Check if you can do a single storey  side extension under permitted development  in the area where this house is ?
It would cost more to apply for full planning to have a 2 storey  

The householder planning application fee is currently £206.

It would be madness to limit oneself to a single-storey extension just to be able to use PD rights (if any), rather than spending this comparatively trivial sum to get consent for something much better in terms of output value.

Not being able to afford the building cost of a two-storey extension might be a valid reason to only go single, ut if that were the case it would throw into question the wisdom of buying this property on such a tight budget (whilst still expecting to extend/alter in the short-term).

TheJP

user1977 said:

Apart from the matter of getting consents, consider the practicalities too - it was built for use as a garage, so (I guess) the insulation is minimal. Demolishing it and building something else may make more sense than "converting" it, if by that you mean keeping most of the structure.

Are there similar properties which have converted/extended? That's usually a good guide. It's not usually regarded as an outrageous development proposal.

Agree with this, probably more cost effective to build up after you knock the garage down and do it right. Cost more now but the return now and later will outweigh just upscaling the current garage.

patchyX2

Thanks for the advice everyone. 

I appreciate it's not a good shell to work with and fully intend on knocking it down and building from scratch. When I said 'convert' it, I meant more from a visual perspective. We'd still retain the garage door and the appearance from the front. The first 4m or so would still be a garage, it's just the 5m or so behind it that I'd turn into a more livable area.

Regarding the access to the rear, there's another path down the other side of the house I believe. Will know for sure when we view it this week.

Regarding single vs double storey extension. Of course a double would be better, but what I'm trying to gauge is how plausible it is from a planning perspective. In my (untrained) opinion, I imagine it would be easy to be approved for a single storey extension as it will barely be visibly different from the front. If we could get a double storey approved then great, but as long as we can get a single storey at minimum, I'd be happy.

The surrounding houses aren't quite the same (lots of variation in terms of orientation, distance from the road, and distance from neighbours), but a few have had a single storey extensions by the looks of it, but no double storeys that I can see.