* Home Improvement: Ten tips for converting your garage

There’s a lot of pressure on the ground floor of a family home. That’s why many families are turning to their unused areas – conservatories, garages, lofts and porches – for extra room. We’ve already looked at converting your loft space, but how about your garage? Such work could add value to your home, in addition to a huge chunk of additional space.

Cars have grown wider in the last few decades. Climate control, safety features, and complex electronics have gradually bloated to the point that they don’t fit where they’re supposed to. Converting your garage could add value to your home, in addition to a huge chunk of additional space. If you’re thinking of converting your garage, here are ten key issues you need to think about.

Work out how it will affect the desirability of your property
Discuss with an estate agent how the work will impact the price of the property. If you’re converting your garage for investment purposes, it might be hard to add value with this type of conversion. This is especially true in places where on-street parking is scarce – a working garage is worth more than a converted one.

Obtain the correct planning permission
The planning requirements for garage conversions are fairly comprehensively laid out on the Planning Portal, but you should seek advice from your local authority if you’re unsure. Building without correct planning permission (or without careful adherence to building regulations) can be expensive and potentially unsafe.

Are there any other restrictions?
There may be a restrictive covenant on your home, especially if it’s a new-build, temporarily or permanently preventing you from converting the garage. Check your documents – not being allowed to convert the garage for three years is a common restriction on new estates.

Can’t change the door? Keep it as a storage area.
An efficient use of space is to keep part of the garage as an externally-accessible storage area, and convert the remaining rear portion. This allows you to keep the existing garage door in its current form.

Build it specifically for its intended use.
You have the freedom to make it to your specifications – don’t just build a room and then add in the rest. If you’re making a home cinema, add the cable ducts during the construction process. Take every opportunity to have ducting, trunking and conduit installed at this stage rather than having to rely on wall-mounted wires.

Design the interior to blend in.
Even if you haven’t changed the outside, the interior shouldn’t feel like a garage conversion. The carpets should match, the paint should be continuous, and the ground floor should flow smoothly.

Keep floor levels the same
Avoid steps by raising or lowering the floor. Steps will make the conversion feel physically separate from the rest of the house – you need to overcome this and fully integrate the new space.

Upgrade the walls and ceiling.
Garages aren’t insulated in the same way as the rest of the house. Upgrading the insulation in the walls, ceiling and especially the exposed from section will save you money.

Move your gas and electricity meter .
Put them in an enclosure outside. Don’t keep them in a living space.

Update your front drive, too.
A paved area leading to a newly-constructed bay window will look strange, so modify the garden to suit the new developments. If you have off-street parking, keep it – this could contribute to the value of the property.

A note on how this affects your insurance…

Don’t forget to tell us if you convert your garage, and you’ll also need to let us know if your car is no longer being kept in a garage so that we can update your car insurance policy. Any changes to your home can also have an effect on your home insurance policy as well. In our third and final post in our Home Improvement series, we discuss adding a conservatory to your house.