Will a Garage Conversion Add Value to My Home?

Housing-Market / UK Housing May 28, 2014 - 11:12 AM GMT

It can be very tempting for home owners in need of living space to contemplate the conversion of their integral or attached garages. However this can turn out to be a huge mistake in terms of it being highly unlikely that you would ever recoup the costs in terms of an increase in your homes value, not unless you live in places such as central London where space carry's a heavy premium.

Instead, it is more likely that a garage conversion will result in a loss of value as it would put off potential buyers, especially if virtually every other house in the street has a garage, but now yours does not.

Therefore you should consider the £5k to £15k of costs as being incurred for your sole benefit, as it won't benefit you at time of resale and instead will likely even result in a loss of value of a few percent, which would especially be true if it were an obvious DIY job done on the cheap.

Instead, If you are in need of extra living space for instance for a home office or a home theatre then look at alternative options available such as having a wooden garden office erected which would usually not need any planning permission and would cost roughly the same as a garage conversion (starting from £10k), which would add some value to your home, possible 2/3rds of the amount spent.

Another option is to look at utilising your garage space other than for storage that does not require any building works such as using part of the garage as a money saving home gym, an investment of £1000 would not only retain most of its value but within a year pay for itself in terms of money saved on expensive monthly gym memberships.

But if you really need the space than look at a temporary option, i.e. use screws to erect a stud wall with so that it can be dismantled, and leave the garage door in place remembering to hang rolls of insulation between the garage door and the new wall. However you will still face a problem when it comes to heating the space.

Off course you could go ahead and fully convert your integral garage if you have the space to build replacement garage, in which case it would probably be cheaper to retain the garage and extend the back of your property.

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Top 15 Value Increasing Home Improvements	Page
1. Home Extensions	191
Permitted Developments	191
Planning Applications	193
2. Kitchens Sell Houses	196
3. Renovate Bathrooms, Add En suites and Toilets	197
4. Loft Conversions	198
5. Convert Front Lawns into Driveways	200
6. Extend Leases and / or Buy Freeholds	202
7. Conservatories	203
Who should avoid Conservatories?	204
Cooling Conservatories in Summer	204
Warming Conservatories in Winter	205
8. Front and Back Garden Landscaping	205
Front Landscaping, Cladding or Render	205
Front Dwarf Walls and Metal Railings	209
Back Gardens	213
9. Replace Tired Old Garden Fences	214
10. Tree's Danger, Inspection, Pruning and Removal	216
Are Your Trees Too Close to Property?	217
Solar Panels	217
Tree Dangers	218
Tree Preservation Orders	218
Tree Inspection	218
Hedges, Trees and Neighbours	220
Cutting Your Neighbours Overhanging Branches	221
Trees to Avoid Planting	222
Dealing with Medium Height Trees (Under 10 metres)	222
Dealing with Tall Trees (Over 10 Metres)	224
Container Trees	226
11. Going Green - Insulation, Green houses and Water Butts	228
INSULATION	228
WATER BUTTS	229
GREEN HOUSE	229
12. Storage Space Ideas	232
Staircase	232
Converted Lofts	232
Garages	234
Sheds	234
Under House Storage	234
13. Replace Flat Roofs with Pitched Roofs	235
14. Quick Cheap DIY Ideas to Help Sell Your Home	237
Replace Bland Old White Switches and Sockets	237
Light Fittings	238
Add or Renovate Neglected Flower Baskets	239
Solar Lights	240
House Signs and Numbers	242
Air Fresheners	243
15. Painting, Decorating, Cleaning and Maintenance	244
Ceiling and Wall Plaster Cracks	244
Painting & Decorating	244
Carpet Stains	246
Water Leaks and Maintenance	247
Exterior Brick Walls Holes and Mortar Repair	248
Exterior Painting	250
Decking, Fencing, Garden Furniture and Railings	251
Lawns	254
Driveway Pressure Washing and Sharp Sanding	255
Roofs	256

Home Improvements to Avoid	258
1. Swimming Pools & Garden Ponds	258
2. Solar Panel Installations	260
3. Garage Conversions	262
4. Children's Play Equipment and Areas	264
5. Basement Conversions	267

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Home Sellers Guide
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Home Improvements to Avoid
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By Nadeem Walayat

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Nadeem Walayat has over 25 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis focuses on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and housing market. He is the author of five ebook's in the The Inflation Mega-Trend and Stocks Stealth Bull Market series that can be downloaded for Free.

Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication that presents in-depth analysis from over 1000 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets, thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

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