I converted my dusty, unused garage into a super glamorous 400 square foot tiny house
A WOMAN has revealed she converted her garage into a stylish tiny home, which she now rents out on AirBnb and earns £2,000-a-month.
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Sarah said she would never use the garage to store cars because it was “too old and rickety,” so she decided to turn it into a money-making machine.
To convert the garage, Sarah worked hard, adding windows, installing a bathroom and creating her “dream kitchen.”
The kitchen has an elegant marble countertop, a Smeg refrigerator and elegant skylights.
She said the garage previously looked “bleak and sad” but now has lots of natural light.
Sarah saved money on the renovation by buying supplies from a hardware store and furnished the spacious living room with chic Ikea purchases.
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Her sister also painted a beautiful mural in the bathroom and she extended the garage to make room for a large bath.
Sarah has changed almost everything in the original garage, except the door, which she says adds ‘character’.
However, the entire renovation still cost her £95,000.
Sarah earns around £2,000 a month from her AirBnb garage, which she has separated from her home by a fence.
She also rents out the house that comes with the garage for £1,500 a month.
Sarah explained that although her garage conversion was extremely expensive, her frugal father had also converted his garage and he had done it for just £31,000.
Her father’s garage is particularly spacious, with a large L-shaped sofa, a double bed separated from the living room by a wall and a chic kitchen with dining area.
“I think what my dad did was the cheapest way to do it,” she said Youtuber Monica Church.
You can rent out your home through AirBnb, but moving into your parents’ garage can also be a great way to save money on a house while still maintaining your independence.
As the cost of living continues to rise, more adults are finding it difficult to afford a home and are choosing to stay in their family home longer.
Can you convert a garage into a bedroom?
Admiral Loans has analysed Zoopla’s average house price figures and calculated that each square metre of living space is worth an average of £350.
Typically, the size of a small garage in the UK is 128 square feet, meaning the extra space is worth £45,000.
According to householdquotes.co.uk, a standard conversion will cost between £4,995 and £7,500, depending on the work you have done, which will of course eat into your profit.
If the garage is attached to your house, you don’t even have to pay for planning permission, which currently costs £206.
The work falls under permitted development regulations, which means you can make certain changes to your home as long as they stay within permitted limits.
This is because you are not actually changing the outside dimensions of the building.
You must submit an application to the municipality if your garage is separate from your home, if you live in an apartment, maisonette or in a listed building.
Before you start the work, it is wise to check whether there are any building conditions attached to your plot. You can do this by contacting the municipality in writing.
If you proceed with construction work that actually requires a permit, you may be ordered to dismantle the work.
The 2021 census found that more than half of people aged 23 and under still live with their parents.
The average price of a house in the UK was £285,000 in March 2023. This has now risen to a whopping £735,254. For many, this is unaffordable.
Research by the Resolution Foundation also shows that the average deposit for a first home buyer has tripled: from 5 percent of the house price in 1989 to 15 percent in 2019.
This means that buyers have to save for much longer and spend a larger percentage of their income to purchase a home.
Recent research by property website Zoopla found that 42 percent of adults under 40 who do not yet own a home have given up their current home because of the astronomical costs associated with buying a house.
This included 38 per cent of people earning more than £60,000 (almost double the average UK salary).
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