Reinstate Garage or Not?

[phykell]

Hi,

 

My house, which I'm moving out of, has an extension which effectively adds a "granny annexe" consisting of a bedroom, lounge, kitchen and bathroom - the house no longer has a garage as a result. The annexe has its own front door, staircase and internal doors to the main house can be locked but the services (electricity, gas, water) are all shared. The kitchen is bare at the moment, without any cabinets, and I'm trying to decide whether or not to fit the kitchen out or reinstate the garage - I'd convert the kitchen back.

In the event that I sell or possibly rent it out:

 

1. Should I reinstate the garage (who needs one these days?) or fit the kitchen out to reinstate the annexe's status?

 

2. Would I need a planning application to convert the kitchen to a garage (remembering that the house originally had one).

 

3. Any opinions on whether a house with an annexe is of much interest to people, e.g. for elderly parents or possibly even for older kids who are yet to move out.

 

I've tried asking estate agents but they don't really have an answer - a couple of them said that everyone parks their car on the drive, which is true, but I can't help thinking a garage is great for storage. 

Opinions welcome - thanks

[G and J]

Sitting on the fence could you do both. Make the front part a storage room fir bikes and stuff, possibly utility area(which I'm sure many use a garage for in practice) and have a more compact kitchenette?

[torre]

I'd say there's generally more value in keeping the annexe, I certainly wouldn't spend to convert back to a garage, but then I'd probably leave it to buyers to decide unless you want to fit out the kitchen with something very low cost - guessing you took that out so it's not habitable to save council tax or something?

[phykell]

On 24/07/2025 at 22:07, torre said:

I'd say there's generally more value in keeping the annexe, I certainly wouldn't spend to convert back to a garage, but then I'd probably leave it to buyers to decide unless you want to fit out the kitchen with something very low cost - guessing you took that out so it's not habitable to save council tax or something?

The kitchen had already been removed but I'm going to get another couple of estate agents out to speak about renting but as you suggest, I'm leaning towards letting the buyer decide if we do sell it.