Garage Conversion Regs

[mushymat]

Hi All,

We have a sizable double garage and Im thinking of converting one half into an office.

My current plan is to do this with zero structural change to the garage*. Ill basically will be putting in insulation (it's a single brick building), plasterboard, and nothing else, it already has lots of electrics so that's not an issue either

I might change the garage door from a swing to a roller, and I'll more than likely swap out the side door to the garage with a good-quality PVC one.

*the garage has two small side windows, I may opt to have these removed and the gap between them opened up so we can install one large window.

With all that in mind, this will only be an office, no plumbing, no additional electronics, and other than maybe opening a window up no additional building work. Is this something Ill need planning for?

 

[DAZB]

I would have thought not as the other half is still a garage. Many people convert outbuildings into mancaves, hot tub rooms, sauna's etc and unless you are running a business from there then it should be fine. Worth checking with your local authority though as business rates etc could be involved if it is a permanent work from home situation.

 

[mrrusty]

If you were dividing your garage up and making a workshop/hobby area it definitely wouldn't be a habitable room and no planning required.....

You definitely won't fall in to business rates just for working from home.

When I did this in the last house I basically built a free-standing insulated timber frame box inside the single skin garage, so there was an airgap between the insulated stud wall and the single skin. I raised the floor slightly by using 2x3 joists stood on 15mm cross battens (for airflow) with insulation between and chip flooring. If necessary it could have been completely dismantled and turned back in to a garage

 

[^woody^]

This work does require building regulation approval, and whether it requires planning approval will depend on whether your property has permitted development rights or not.

Unauthorised work (in terms of building regulations) can have implications for your home insurance should you need to make a claim.

 

[mrrusty]

I've presumed it's detached in which case IMHO it doesn't need BR if it's just dividing up an existing garage for a non-habitable space. If it's an attached garage then I agree with @^woody^

 

[noseall]

and whether it requires planning approval will depend on whether your property has permitted development rights or not.

....and off road parking requirements?

 

[Murdochcat]

Maybe a call to the local planners ?

 

[mrrusty]

Maybe a call to the local planners ?

Why would you do that? planners will then have to investigate. If it's a detached garage, just do it. It's an outbuilding, and provided you don't turn it in to a habitable space or run a business from it with visitors, what you do inside it is your business.

 

[^woody^]

....and off road parking requirements?

Not specifically on its own, but that is a planning consideration for which planners might remove PD or put a condition on previous permissions to control it.