Outbuildings- Can I increase property value?

hornet123

I live in a former local authority property. I have a brick tool shed  (former coalshed), toilet (no sink) and another room which is used as a freezer and tumble dryer room. There is plumbing for a sink but currently no sink in place. These are all accessible via a short corridor from the back door (from the kitchen) which serves as a porch, there is no external door to the porch. There is also a shed not acccesible directly from the small corridor, you have to go outside through the porch to get there. Our electricity meter box prevents a door to be simply added as it is in the exact place the frame would go, so we're going to have to be creative as moving the meter box is too costly.  Will installing a door increase the value of my house, as the square footage of these outbuildings is not included in the valuation I have received from the agent who will be selling the property for us quite soon. We didn't think about this until the agent had gone. I had always wanted to do this but the meter cupboard  being in the way put me off. Now I just need to maximise the sale price of my house. Thank you.

FreeBear

Outbuildings are generally single skin (~100mm thick), so can never be regarded as habitable spaces without a lot of additional work. Whilst they would add some value to the property, I wouldn't be messing around with adding/moving doors.

The work would require Building Regs sign-off on both the door and any lintel installed - The old door is unlikely to be up to spec for BR, so would need to be replaced. If you though getting a meter moved was expensive, wait until you get some quotes to move a door (probably looking at around £2K). Unlikely you will see a similar uplift in property value.

Bigphil1474

Do you have a smart meter? If not, you could ask for one to be installed and ask them to move it slightly so it isn't in the way? That shouldn't cost you anything.

I don't think many people worry about the square footage of outbuildings when considering house size. Your best bet is probably to draw buyers attention to the potential to develop them, but having an outbuilding with electrics and plumbing would definitely be a bonus if I was viewing the property. I'd just make sure it was clean and tidy and looked like a good usable space rather than a forgotten space.

hornet123

Thanks for your reply. No I don't have a Smart Meter, so that's a possibility thank you so much. My agent has valued my house  a little less than a similar one in my close which is a mid terrace rather than a semi detatched because that house has a door closing off the outbuildings, so they are included in the square footage. My house itself is a bit bigger if we exclude both our outbuildings.

hornet123

Thank you FreeBear for your reply. I would expect my house value to increase more than the cost of the new door, but I didn't realise it would need a building regs sign off. We don't want too much hassle but it would add quite a lot of square footage. We use all of the outbuildings but your comment has made me realsise that we need to stop using the 'freeezer/dryer room for adhoc storage as well. Thank you.

gwynlas

 There is no need to stop using the storage space available if they are clean and dry.

You could install kitchen cabinets often advertised as free on local market  forums, shelving or stacking plartic crates.

If storing garden tools appropriate hooks keep them neat and tidy

lincroft1710

As single skin brick outbuildings, they are useful storage space and little else. Their area should not be reflected in the house area unless it says "includes outbuildings"


I personally don't think your EA knows what he is talking about, the vast majority of house buyers would pay more for a semi than an identical inner terrace, even if it had attached outbuildings

Albermarle

hornet123 said:

Thanks for your reply. No I don't have a Smart Meter, so that's a possibility thank you so much. My agent has valued my house  a little less than a similar one in my close which is a mid terrace rather than a semi detatched because that house has a door closing off the outbuildings, so they are included in the square footage. My house itself is a bit bigger if we exclude both our outbuildings.

A potential buyer may have their own ideas about what to do with the outbuildings. So you might spend money before the sale on something a buyer may well just remove again.

hornet123

gwynlas said:

 There is no need to stop using the storage space available if they are clean and dry.

You could install kitchen cabinets often advertised as free on local market  forums, shelving or stacking plartic crates.

If storing garden tools appropriate hooks keep them neat and tidy

Thank you.We do actually have old kitchen cupboards in already, so it's good to know that's a good idea. Garden tools are in the brick shed mentioned. So it looks like we're headed in the right direction.

Slinky

hornet123 said:

Thanks for your reply. No I don't have a Smart Meter, so that's a possibility thank you so much. My agent has valued my house  a little less than a similar one in my close which is a mid terrace rather than a semi detatched because that house has a door closing off the outbuildings, so they are included in the square footage. My house itself is a bit bigger if we exclude both our outbuildings.

Don't forget it's ultimately you that will set the asking price. If you think it should be more, tell the agent to market it for the price you want.

I expect Crashy/ReadySteadyPop will be popping up soon telling you it's only worth 50% of whatever you want.

Slinky

Slinky said:

I expect Crashy/ReadySteadyPop will be popping up soon telling you it's only worth 50% of whatever you want.

Oh dear, it would appear that RSP is no longer posting.........