I would like to convert our detached garage at the end of our garden, and for it to include a shower room. Do I need planning permission? R.E
MailOnline Property expert Myra Butterworth replies: If you are thinking about converting a garage, there may be an opportunity to do it without involving the planners if you keep the changes minimal.
The key is not to change the use of the garage in a way that requires planning permission.
We speak to a planning expert about what this means in practice and where the restrictions lie for such a conversion.
Homeowners may need to submit a planning application if they convert a garage
Martin Gaine, a chartered town planner, explains: Since the Covid lockdowns, there has been a surge in interest in the conversion of garages and other outbuildings into home offices, gyms or even into residential annexes to provide a bit of extra living space and privacy for teenagers or elderly parents.
According to the Town & Country Planning Act 1990, internal changes to an existing building do not need planning permission.
So, you can add a shower room to your garage as long as you are not making any external changes (such as replacing the garage door with windows).
If you do want to brick up the garage door and add some windows and a front door, you will not need planning permission as long as the garage meets the general permitted development rules for outbuildings.
For example, it cannot be more than 2.5 metres tall if located within two metres of any of the boundaries, and it cannot take up more than 50 per cent of the garden area.
If it doesn’t meet all of the requirements, you may need to submit a planning application.
If you are unsure, contact your local council for advice before starting any works.
You also need to be careful that you don’t change the use of the garage in a way that requires planning permission.
The garage must continue to be used in a way that connects it to your occupation of the main house.
It can be used as a gym, store room, home office or even as a little studio flat, as long as it is by members of your own household and it does not become a completely separate residential unit.
You will need planning permission If you want to create an annexe and then rent it out to private tenants on longer term contracts or to short term visitors on websites like Airbnb.
Rules: The garage must continue to be used in a way that connects it to your occupation of the main house, such as a gym
In most cases, it is unlikely that the local council would grant planning permission for the use of a garage as a separate unit.
The planners are concerned that a new house in the garden would interfere with the main house at the front of the plot, and that it would bother the neighbours and create problems in terms of parking.
Council planners can be quite suspicious about how homeowners are using their garages and sheds, and some councils have special planning enforcement teams specifically targeting outbuildings.
They are worried that homeowners are installing showers and kitchenettes in order to rent them out, creating poor quality ‘beds in sheds’.
Despite their suspicions, you do not need permission to use your garage as living accommodation as long as it is used by your own household in connection with your occupation of the main house.
Martin Gaine is a chartered town planner and author of ‘How to Get Planning Permission – An Insider’s Secrets
