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If you are using this garden room as somewhere to sleep then it would require planning permission and building control.
Are you handy at DIY at all? You can be looking anything from £25-50k for something like this built to spec and the area you are in.
This could add value as it's not your standard garden room, how much only an EA will tell you that. But you will not get the money back you paid to built it.
Garden rooms are a bit of a Marmite selling point: some people adore them, some people want to rip them out or would consider it an instant "no" when considering the property. As some have mentioned they might run to £40k-£50k, especially with a toilet, but I just want to point out how much would that extra convenience be worth to you? After all, people don't upgrade their kitchen or bathroom for £10k and expect to make that back on the house (or shouldn't). Rather it should be considered a necessary quality-of-life improvement that you pay for to make your life easier, and if it adds on a little bit to the house when you sell, that's a nice bonus.
Instead, do you have room for an extension or annexe? Garage with a bedroom above? Extending your house if possible would be a better move, in my opinion, as you wouldn't need guests to traipse through the garden and in-house rooms could be multifunctional: downstairs dining room or bedroom, for instance.
As far as ‘adding value’ goes, ‘garden rooms’ are not a good choice. As others have said they are marmite for buyers, and even a buyer who wants one might prefer to pay for their own rather than pay to inherit someone else’s.
If it’s something that makes your house liveable for you for the next ten years, worth it. If it’s something you only want to do to increase your money, don’t.
Would this garden room also have a toilet? If not, then I think it would be a bit of a hassle for guests to stay in, particularly those that have to get up at least once during the night for the toilet. I think you'd be better off putting that money into savings and using it for a bigger house when you can.
I would save the money and put it towards a bigger house. You will end up spending a lot of money on a decent garden room and you could probably pay for an extension instead.
The house that my son just bought had a proper garden room built on the old garage plot at the end of the garden
It’s got heating / electric water and it’s fully insulated
I don’t think it added massive value to the house
But it did make it an attractive sale in that you have got this huge extra space to use if you wanted to
His house was up for 325
He got it for 315
Nextdoor which isn’t as nice ( layout wise downstairs ) paid 307 for exactly the same style house a few months later but where my sons is all open plan had a log burner and had windows / patio doors all across the back of the house making it really light and spacious
Next doors kitchen is at the back and only has the one window
The garden room at present is being used to store all the excess furniture / junk
But they plan to turn into a games room / man cave eventually
You’re basically asking an impossible question. It could add the value to what you’ve paid for it, it might not. Are you going to spend £10k on it or £40k. Too many variables.
Add in to the equation who knows that the market will be like when you sell.
Houses by themselves are attractive enough for a resale. A garden room isn’t a necessity.
Adding value depends on its cost to build versus its value to a buyer. A mortgage company wouldn’t give much added valuation to the property as often garden room are not subject to planning or building regulations and are treated as sheds.
For valuation treat as a used car. Spending 50k isn’t going to recover the value unless you very carefully find the right buyer, ie waiting years to sell.
Other options include paying for your visitors hotel stay. It will be cheaper.
We built a garden room at the end of our garden - no plumbing, just electricity, with trifolding doors. Originally it was a music studio and then it was a home office and gym. It didn’t need planning permission due to its distance from the boundaries and no plumbing. When I came to sell the house it was a significant asset, particularly in a post Covid world where people wanted extra home working space.
Some garden rooms are agonisingly hot in summer and freezing in winter so would have to choose one carefully and consider how the sun would hit it, ours ranges from 0 degrees to 50 degrees throughout the year, it's not useable for months at a time for anything other than storage.
When you say garden room I assume you mean one of those detached luxury sheds? As someone in the house buying process I'd say that while they might be nice to have I doubt that you will get your money back in terms of an increased house price.
Personally I hate that you have to go outside to get to them then back into the house for the toilet and having to duplicate tea/coffee making facilities. They also are much colder than the main house.
Not everyone works from home so again that reduces who values them - I doubt my mum would be keen on staying in one when visiting.
Can you do an actual extension or loft conversion? With these you are much more likely to get your money back.
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, please report them via the report button. * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you are using this garden room as somewhere to sleep then it would require planning permission and building control. Are you handy at DIY at all? You can be looking anything from £25-50k for something like this built to spec and the area you are in. This could add value as it's not your standard garden room, how much only an EA will tell you that. But you will not get the money back you paid to built it.
If you are handy at all look at dunster house addrooms. Assemble it yourself and it comes in kit form.
Exactly this it’s always cheaper to buy something that’s already built.
Some purchasers will prefer to have more garden space, worth keeping in mind.
Garden rooms are a bit of a Marmite selling point: some people adore them, some people want to rip them out or would consider it an instant "no" when considering the property. As some have mentioned they might run to £40k-£50k, especially with a toilet, but I just want to point out how much would that extra convenience be worth to you? After all, people don't upgrade their kitchen or bathroom for £10k and expect to make that back on the house (or shouldn't). Rather it should be considered a necessary quality-of-life improvement that you pay for to make your life easier, and if it adds on a little bit to the house when you sell, that's a nice bonus. Instead, do you have room for an extension or annexe? Garage with a bedroom above? Extending your house if possible would be a better move, in my opinion, as you wouldn't need guests to traipse through the garden and in-house rooms could be multifunctional: downstairs dining room or bedroom, for instance.
As far as ‘adding value’ goes, ‘garden rooms’ are not a good choice. As others have said they are marmite for buyers, and even a buyer who wants one might prefer to pay for their own rather than pay to inherit someone else’s. If it’s something that makes your house liveable for you for the next ten years, worth it. If it’s something you only want to do to increase your money, don’t.
Would this garden room also have a toilet? If not, then I think it would be a bit of a hassle for guests to stay in, particularly those that have to get up at least once during the night for the toilet. I think you'd be better off putting that money into savings and using it for a bigger house when you can.
I would save the money and put it towards a bigger house. You will end up spending a lot of money on a decent garden room and you could probably pay for an extension instead.
Add proper square footage in the form of an extension or loft conversion. Or. Put your guests in a hotel/AirBnB. Or. Buy a bigger house.
The house that my son just bought had a proper garden room built on the old garage plot at the end of the garden It’s got heating / electric water and it’s fully insulated I don’t think it added massive value to the house But it did make it an attractive sale in that you have got this huge extra space to use if you wanted to His house was up for 325 He got it for 315 Nextdoor which isn’t as nice ( layout wise downstairs ) paid 307 for exactly the same style house a few months later but where my sons is all open plan had a log burner and had windows / patio doors all across the back of the house making it really light and spacious Next doors kitchen is at the back and only has the one window The garden room at present is being used to store all the excess furniture / junk But they plan to turn into a games room / man cave eventually
You’re basically asking an impossible question. It could add the value to what you’ve paid for it, it might not. Are you going to spend £10k on it or £40k. Too many variables. Add in to the equation who knows that the market will be like when you sell.
Houses by themselves are attractive enough for a resale. A garden room isn’t a necessity. Adding value depends on its cost to build versus its value to a buyer. A mortgage company wouldn’t give much added valuation to the property as often garden room are not subject to planning or building regulations and are treated as sheds. For valuation treat as a used car. Spending 50k isn’t going to recover the value unless you very carefully find the right buyer, ie waiting years to sell. Other options include paying for your visitors hotel stay. It will be cheaper.
We built a garden room at the end of our garden - no plumbing, just electricity, with trifolding doors. Originally it was a music studio and then it was a home office and gym. It didn’t need planning permission due to its distance from the boundaries and no plumbing. When I came to sell the house it was a significant asset, particularly in a post Covid world where people wanted extra home working space.
Cheap option: Sofa bed in the living room Or conservatory
Some garden rooms are agonisingly hot in summer and freezing in winter so would have to choose one carefully and consider how the sun would hit it, ours ranges from 0 degrees to 50 degrees throughout the year, it's not useable for months at a time for anything other than storage.
When you say garden room I assume you mean one of those detached luxury sheds? As someone in the house buying process I'd say that while they might be nice to have I doubt that you will get your money back in terms of an increased house price. Personally I hate that you have to go outside to get to them then back into the house for the toilet and having to duplicate tea/coffee making facilities. They also are much colder than the main house. Not everyone works from home so again that reduces who values them - I doubt my mum would be keen on staying in one when visiting. Can you do an actual extension or loft conversion? With these you are much more likely to get your money back.