Extend into the garage instead of into the garden
Most attached garages share a wall with the kitchen, dining room or lounge. Removing that wall (with a steel beam to carry the load) and converting the garage lets you create a single, bright, open-plan room across the full width of the house. It's the same result as a rear extension — a big kitchen-diner, a family room, a snug — but without new foundations, a new roof or losing garden.
Alternatively, the garage can become a separate second reception room: a snug, a cinema room, a formal dining room or a quiet lounge away from the TV. We'll talk through both options at your survey.
What a living room or kitchen conversion involves
- Structural opening between the garage and house, with a steel beam designed by a structural engineer and installed with proper padstones and temporary supports.
- Floor levels matched — garage floors are usually 100–150mm lower than the house, so we raise, insulate and screed the new floor so the whole space is level and flows as one room.
- The front wall re-imagined: the garage door becomes a large window, French doors or bi-fold doors, or is bricked up with a smaller window to create a snug feel.
- Full insulation and damp-proofing to habitable-room standard so the new space is as warm as the rest of the house.
- Kitchen services where you're creating a kitchen-diner: relocated drainage, water supplies, gas and cooker circuits, extraction and underfloor heating.
- Lighting and electrics planned for the new layout, including feature and task lighting.
- Plastering, flooring and decoration throughout the combined space so there's no visible "join" between old and new.
Planning permission and structure
Converting the garage is normally permitted development, and removing an internal wall doesn't need planning permission — but the structural work does need Building Regulations approval, and we'll always involve a structural engineer to design the beam. Larger openings, bi-fold doors and changes to the front elevation are checked against your permitted development rights at the survey. Planning permission guide.
Cost of a living room or kitchen garage conversion
A garage converted into a separate living room typically costs £9,000–£14,000. Knocking through to create an open-plan space adds the structural opening (usually £2,000–£4,000 including engineer's design), and a full kitchen-diner with a new kitchen installed starts from around £20,000 depending on the kitchen specification. Full cost guide.