Is It Worth Buying A ‘Posh’ Garden Shed To Use As An Extra Room?

[Saving For a Space Ship]

http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2015/aug/29/posh-garden-shed-extra-room

[crashmonitor]

Absolutely a minus factor I would say. Had a friend that put an office shed in the garden and he lost about 20k when he came to sell the property over what he had paid in 2007. Nobody wants a shanty town in the garden, developers generally clear the crap when they are doing properties up and present a minmalist garden. was the case when my mother in laws house was done up by a developer, the shed and sectional garage were demolished and it added 000s to the perceived value.

Edited August 29, 2015 by crashmonitor

[dgul]

Absolutely a minus factor I would say. Had a friend that put an office shed in the garden and he lost about 20k when he came to sell the property over what he had paid in 2007. Nobody wants a shanty town in the garden, developers generally clear the crap when they are doing properties up and present a minmalist garden. was the case when my mother in laws house was done up by a developer, the shed and sectional garage were demolished and it added 000s to the perceived value.

You're thinking the wrong way. In fact that is exactly the sort of mindset that plagues property in the UK - looking at it like an investment rather than a simple expenditure and the value gained.

Say you've got the house you want to live in, there are enough bedrooms for the kids and a big enough garden. You plan to stay for 10 years plus. Factor in cost of nice shed (lets say £10k) - so the question becomes 'will I get £1k of value per year from having this' - if you spend a reasonable time in it working from home, doing your hobby, allowing kids to do homework away from the noise of the younger children, and perhaps use as an extra bedroom for the occasional visitor- then it could be worthwhile. Certainly much cheaper than moving to a larger house (just in costs, let alone extra money for the house).

But note, of course, that this only works because houses are so expensive... Change the model to rural France and you'd be mad to put up the shed - You could buy a lot more actual property for the extra 10k.

Edited August 29, 2015 by dgul

[crashmonitor]

You're thinking the wrong way. In fact that is exactly the sort of mindset that plagues property in the UK - looking at it like an investment rather than a simple expenditure and the value gained.

Say you've got the house you want to live in, there are enough bedrooms for the kids and a big enough garden. You plan to stay for 10 years plus. Factor in cost of nice shed (lets say £10k) - so the question becomes 'will I get £1k of value per year from having this' - if you spend a reasonable time in it working from home, doing your hobby, allowing kids to do homework away from the noise of the younger children, and perhaps use as an extra bedroom for the occasional visitor- then it could be worthwhile. Certainly much cheaper than moving to a larger house (just in costs, let alone extra money for the house).

But note, of course, that this only works because houses are so expensive... Change the model to rural France and you'd be mad to put up the shed - You could buy a lot more actual property for the extra 10k.

I think it depends on the size of your family. In most cases people have too much room, often they don't realise it because they hoard worthless clutter and then seek extensions to house even more. Greenhouses, sheds, offices...just more complication in a life that is already too complicated.

Every addition to the house the previous owner did have caused me grief that includes the bloody alarm system and the awnings, scared the latter wont retract after it has gone out, they are automatic.

I just hate bloody stuff. You either do or you don't.

Edited August 29, 2015 by crashmonitor

[CyberNat]

I couldn't live without my shed. It was there when we bought the house built by the previous owner. It certainly didn't put us off the house, in fact it was a huge selling point as it already had electricity and a lot of space. I insulated it and it is a great space to be in now. I've never met anyone who doesn't like a good shed.

[Squeeky]

If you have enough garden space a garden room can be great - personally I tend to think of them more as workshop or hobby rooms, rather than a replacement sitting room...