Do garden rooms add value to my house?

A well designed and well made garden room does add value to your property, is the simple answer - financial value and life value

Adding financial value to your home through the addition of a garden room

Recent mainstream media articles and discussions with estate agents in the UK suggest you can add between 5% to 10% to the value of your property by installing a quality garden room.

Potential buyers wants and needs from the their new home have changed since our Lockdown experiences. A garden, with a quality garden room, are now a key purchasing decision maker – a garden home office, for instance, being a primary buying decision for many buyers.

A garden room also adds instant extra square meterage to your home. As a house is priced, in part, by the square meterage then this will logically add financial value to your home.

Going back to our earlier comment on quality – This definitely plays a part in the level of added value. A cheap converted shed with no, or poor, insulation, inadequate foundations, and services [power, data, water etc] is unlikely to add much value. A quality garden room made from well sited, long lasting, high quality low maintenance materials, and with thick insulation will definitely appeal and add extra value.

Their are some other considerations that will affect the financial added value of a garden room;

Size – Smaller garden rooms add less value as they have less future potential for future conversation to other uses. At small dimensions it is likely your garden room will only be useful as a home office, creative studio or gym for instance. All good things for a potential buyer of your property but the added square meters are likely to be smaller so have less financial added value.
Larger garden rooms – These have the potential to be converted, or even designed and built from conception as liveable dwellings in addition to your main house. A granny annexe for instance. Highly insulated and with power, data, water and waste designed in larger cabins can be rented to a small business or AirBnB’d so generate an income. This approach would likely require planning permission and adhere to UK building regulations – these applications are fairly straight forward in most cases unless you live in a National Park or Area of Outstanding National Beauty [AONB] or a conservation area. This doesn’t stop you planning a liveable garden room but would require a higher budget to meet the surrounding vernacular architecture and to meet building regulations.
Materials and finishes make a difference. Low cost or poor quality material choices and finishes are likely to diminish a garden room value. Given the current cost of materials it can be an understandable temptation to cut corners on quality, insulation levels, and higher quality finishing. To create the best added value from your garden room consider what you would want if you added an traditional house extension instead? Would you want a sub standard finish? A quality garden room is an extension to your home – it just happens to be in your garden rather than directly attached to your house. Well design and made garden rooms will last 20 plus years so well worth the investment.
A heated cabin, that is low cost to run, adds value if the intention is to use the cabin all year round. This would require the understanding of the U values – its thermal performance – of your cabin. The lower the U-value the better if you intend to use your garden room all year round.
How you cabin can be used now and into the future makes a difference. As we have talked about earlier some of this is dependent on the size. An adaptable garden room design could be more more valuable i.e. one that is designed to allow the layout to be changed as a family grows is beneficial. Fixed internal walls or spaces that are hard to adapt or remove can be a pain for you or a new owner as they are likely to require extensive repairs to walls, doors, ceiling, and electrical installations.
Fixed fixtures, furniture, and fittings that are hard to remove or move are a tough sell. A bar or gym equipment that has been fixed in place will require extensive repairs by new owners if they want to use the garden room for a different activity when they move in.
A good roof and gutters, basically good waterproofing all round, is essential in any quality garden room. Good roofing materials, particularly when it’s a flat roofed garden room is essential. All good roofing materials with correct application should last well in excess of 20 years.
Little details, like rodent proofing or naturally weather resistant timber cladding can add value.

With all of these considerations our job is to understand how you intend to use your garden room now, and in the future. This can balance the price you will pay for all the bells and whistles in your cabin or garden room – a bit like Goldilocks, neither too hot or too cold, but just right.

Let’s also consider the cost of moving house – a quick calculation of the cost of moving in the Bristol and North Somerset area could be £18,000 to £40,000 or more. Perhaps a large garden room would add the extra space you need and add value to your property at a future sale.

Adding value to your life, for you and your family through your garden room

The Art Shed

From our experience this is invaluable and hard to appreciate until you have a new garden room.

A space out of the house, but part of your home is very special. It’s a safe space, perhaps a quiet place too, that rapidly becomes a sanctuary for whatever you decide to use your garden room for.

The ‘Art Shed’ – a personal story from Matt: I designed and built my cabin in 2015 as I was just starting to work from home a day a week and wanted a space out of the main house. My boys were 14 and 16. I rapidly understood that running my design business was a lot more productive from my cabin and by the time I sold it in 2022 I was using my cabin 4 days a week as a home office. The boys, now men, were in there all the time in evenings and weekends, pretty much all the time I wasn’t working in there. When they were young this started out as a gathering place for them and their mates. They also both did all of their study for GCSE’s and higher education in there, sometimes together, the only conflict (that I was aware of) being the choice of music. Now 20 and 23 they a boomerang children having both left home, one at Uni and the other forging his working career and when they are home they gravitate to the cabin for study, creative pursuits, guitar and piano playing. For the boys, having a break out space for them and their mates was great. It was a safe place to make be a bit rowdy but not upset the neighbours – the cabin is well sound proofed. It’s amazing how much use ‘The Shed’ has had in the 8 years we’ve had it. It’s still evolving as we speak.

Our customers tell us the same stories. The intended use often changes over time as you and your family gets older. A well designed and made garden room can accommodate these shifts and changes in our circumstances over time – often a lot more easily than a room in your house.

A cabin that is set up as a home office allows work and home life separation. Essential for well-being. A garden room also allows a (very) short commute to work, definitely a benefit in time and money saved. And you haven’t had to give up a bedroom or kitchen table to your work.

If you are in a different place in life, no kids or an empty nester then a garden room can add all sorts of life benefits, particularly if we’re heading towards retirement. Again, from experience and chats we’ve had with friends and family that have cabins, garden rooms or outbuildings they are using them for some of these pursuits;

Creative studio – fine art, painting, ceramics, woodwork and a lot more.
Gym and yoga room – doing a gym session in you living room or bedroom is not quite the same as a dedicated garden room space.
Study room – 3rd life learning is growing so a garden room can be a quiet space to learn something new.
Writers cabin or garden music room – More than one famous writer and musician has started their creative journey in the garden shed.
A hot tub pavilion. Stars, friends, and a few drinks perhaps.
Sole trader or a small business can be run from a well sized and fitted out garden room. This is where and how we started Cabinmakers and still gravitate on evenings and weekends to our garden cabins to tinker away on the business.

Getting the design right

Getting your garden room designed exactly as you want it is essential. Standard off-the-shelf garden rooms are generally lower cost but often don’t meet your exact needs or space allocated in your garden.

We design every garden room to fit with your land and life in mind. Where it will be sited and how your life will revolve and evolve around your cabin are the starting point of any well designed garden room. In our experience, every location and need is unique, so requires a unique garden room design solution.

A garden room is akin to any other major house rework, it require personal input and choices and, when done well, enhances your home life immeasurably.