Moving to a bigger home will likely cost you tens of thousands of pounds once you factor in stamp duty and solicitor fees. Not on that, the stress of moving home is immense. If you love where you live and have some spare space in your garden, you might consider building a garden room instead of switching to a larger property.
We joined forces with the HomeOwners Alliance to see how much value a garden room can add to your home. Not only that, we also looked at how long the work might take and how much it would set you back.
Facts and figures
• Potential value added: £36,000 to an averagely priced home in Surrey
• Time taken to complete: 14 days
• On average, it will cost: £7,000
What can I use it for?
The uses for a garden room are endless. You could use it for an office, a children’s playroom, a yoga studio, a gym, a summerhouse or even a spare bedroom. If it is built to the correct standard, it can be used all year round and act as a fully-functioning home extension.
Where to start?
The first thing you’ll need to think about is the size of your garden room. The larger you go, the more of your garden you are sacrificing. It makes sense to mark out the potential size to make sure you’re happy with the balance before continuing. A very small garden room could be less than 5sq metres. By contrast, most are fewer than 15sq metres but they can be much larger.
Do I need planning permission?
Whether you need planning permission largely depends on the room’s size and height and the distance you are building it from the boundaries of your property. If it is taller than 2.5 metres and if it is within 2 metres of a boundary, you will need permission. It will also depend on whether the room has electricity and whether it contains sleeping accommodation. Most unhelpfully, the rules are different in England and Scotland, and change again in conservation areas across the UK. Before starting, you should check with your local council.
If it is going to be larger than 15 sq metres, or be used for sleeping in, then it will have to pass Building Regulations.
Read more in our ultimate guide to planing permission.
Functionality
You will need to think about whether you are going to include heating, lights and plug sockets. If you are, you will need to think about how you will connect utilities. Insulation is vital on walls, floors and roof, and so is good security.