If you’re thinking of turning your garage into living space, quantity surveyor Tim Phillips can offer expert advice on working out the costs involved for different types of conversions
If your home is in need of additional living space, converting a garage can be the most cost-effective way of achieving this. It’s far less expensive than moving home and can be done for less than the cost of an extension of the same size — after all, the foundations, walls and roof are already there.
Lots of garages just become storage spaces over time and some are simply too small to accommodate the increasingly popular family SUV cars, so they really do become wasted spaces with lots of potential. We’ll look at the typical costs involved for converting different types of garages and how these costs are impacted by a range of factors.
SIDE BENEFITS
Being an existing structure, a garage conversion is the most cost-effective way of adding space to your home, but there are several other benefits, too. Unlike a typical extension project, you won’t lose any of your garden space and the works are far less likely to be disruptive. If your garage is detached, this can be a real advantage if you’re looking to add spaces such as a home office, a self-contained annexe for a loved one or even somewhere to practise musical instruments.
Garage conversions can also add 10-15% to the value of your home depending on the purpose and design, which is useful if you need the extra space now, and financially beneficial should you sell up. However, be aware that parking spaces in certain locations can be incredibly valuable and removing your garage (if you don’t have alternative off-road parking) could actually devalue your home, so it’s essential to thoroughly assess your individual circumstances.
ESTABLISHING GUIDELINE COSTS
Garage sizes and conversion purposes will obviously vary, but before we delve into what can influence those costs, as a ballpark figure you can expect a typical 16m2 garage conversion to cost on average £15,000. That’s a great amount of extra space for an average cost of £950/m2.
Your garage may be integral, attached or detached and the type will impact the conversion cost. The cheapest to convert is an integral garage as this will already have a connection to the house and will most certainly already have an electricity supply for lighting. You should budget around £12,500 based on average costs. An attached garage would fall in the middle of the cost scale at an average of £15,000 with a detached garage being the most expensive type to convert at around £20,000 — all of which are still cheaper than building the same-sized extension for t
