Impact of garage demolition on house value

[tinkerliz]

We have an old asbestos riddled garage in our back garden, which has recently flooded due to a leaking roof. I doubt anyone would be able to fix it anyway due to the asbestos, but the garage as a whole really needs demolishing.

We can’t afford to have a new garage built, so we are planning to pay for it to be demolished and get a nice shed built. Luckily we have a very large driveway which fits 4 cars anyway so car storage is not an issue.

We are planning to move in the next 2 years, so is a lack of garage likely reduce the value of my house? Or will it not be impacted because the garage was in very bad condition anyway?

Thanks!

[Dr.JumbaJookiba]

I think you're doing the right thing getting rid

[Button17]

I think, due to the asbestos, you are doing the right thing. It'd potentially put buyers off when they read asbestos in the buyers report.

We converted our garage and were told that it would reduce the value. Had it valued straight afterwards by a different estate agent and it had put the value up.

Good luck xx

[tinkerliz]

Thank you both, that’s reassuring ! It definitely seems like demolishing it is the right thing to do, and it’ll be nice to no longer have the eye sore that it is 😅

[hvasey]

A stand alone garage only adds £5-10k to a house so it’s really irrelevant.
We paid £800 to have our asbestos garage demolished and removed.
We looked at large wooden buildings but the price was double that of the concrete panel replacement garage we went for, we did go for timber hung doors and windows rather than plastic and an up and over door, the timber makes it look much better imho. I’m glad we didn’t shell out nearly £10k for a wooden building, we ended up having to have the old base ripped out and redone which cost us £2k!
We also went for a slightly smaller garage so I could have an 8ft x 6ft potting shed behind it.
Cost us around £6k for the garage, new base and premium shed. Prices have shot up in the last 18 months though. Looking to replace some decking and it’s gone up 50%

[Universal VR]

I’m not sure how much it would affect the value. I do think, though, if I was looking at a property that had ample parking but no garage, it wouldn’t put me off buying. If I was looking at one with an asbestos garage that was falling down or in need of repair, I’d think twice about buying the property.

[SquishTheWhale]

I think on paper it would affect the value- some estate agents are so rigid with valuations. We had a guy from purple bricks round, and the only thing they value your house off is number of bedrooms, type of house, if it has a driveway etc and then compared to sales of similar property in the area. Didn't give a fig that we'd really improved the garden and spent a bomb on composite decking etc. Just tick boxes does it have this or that. So not ticking the garage box might devalue it slightly.

However, as soon as a potential buyer saw the state of it or received the home buyers report saying it had asbestos they would want to pay less anyway, and potentially you'd even lose a buyer who had progressed to the point of a home buyers survey.

As the above poster said, it would really put me off buying as I wouldn't want the headache and cost of sorting it myself, and having a young child means I might be nervous about safety of a falling down garage until we could sort it.

So yes my opinion would be get rid!

[tinkerliz]

Thanks for all your thoughts. I have booked to get it demolished next week 😊

[duncanb]

You have more than likely added value in removing from your description an eyesore and replacing with something more sympathetic.