How much does a garage conversion cost in the UK?
A garage conversion costs £14,000 on average in the UK. Most jobs fall between £7,500 and £20,000 for the conversion. Conversion type: Single garage, basic room £7,500 to £12,000; Single garage, high spec £9,000 to £18,000; Double garage £12,000 to £20,000. Prices reviewed June 2026.
A garage conversion turns space you already have into a room, so it is one of the cheaper ways to add living space. Price depends on the size and on whether you add a bathroom or kitchen.
Garage conversion cost calculator
Use the calculator to price your garage conversion in 2026. Adjust the options and area for a UK cost range. Nothing is sent anywhere.
To price the whole job, use the extension cost calculator, loft conversion cost calculator or garage conversion cost calculator.
Garage conversion cost breakdown
Typical garage conversion costs, by option:
| Conversion type | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| Single garage, basic room | £7,500 to £12,000 |
| Single garage, high spec | £9,000 to £18,000 |
| Double garage | £12,000 to £20,000 |
| + Add an en-suite or plumbing | add £2,500 to £6,000 |
What's included in the price?
Typical garage conversion prices include:
- Insulating and finishing the floor, walls and ceiling
- Replacing the garage door with a wall and window
- Electrics, heating and plastering
- Building control sign-off
What changes the price?
The things that move garage conversion prices most:
Single or double garage, and the floor area
Whether you add an en-suite, kitchenette or utility
Bringing the floor and walls up to habitable standard
Any structural work where the garage joins the house
How the price is built up
Most of the spend goes on bringing the space up to a habitable standard rather than on the floor area itself: insulating and dry-lining the walls, floor and ceiling to meet Part L, infilling the old garage door opening with a new wall, window or doors, and laying a damp-proof, insulated floor. On top of that you are paying for first and second fix electrics, plastering, decoration and flooring, plus building control fees of roughly £360 to £1,200 and drawings if you need them. A single dry room near the lower end of the band keeps it simple, while adding plumbing, drainage or structural work at the join with the house pushes you toward the £20,000 end. On a typical garage conversion of around £14,000, labour is usually the larger share at roughly 45 to 55 percent, with materials such as blockwork, insulation, plasterboard, flooring and joinery making up most of the rest.
Ways to keep the cost down
- Keep it dry. A bedroom, office or playroom with no plumbing avoids the drainage and waterproofing costs that an en-suite or kitchenette add.
- Reuse the existing slab where it is sound and at a usable level; relaying or lowering a floor is one of the bigger avoidable costs.
- Keep the layout and openings where they are. Moving the door infill or adding extra windows means more structural and glazing work.
- Get building control involved early through a registered builder so insulation and fire detail are right first time, rather than reworking it after an inspection fails.
Does where you live change the cost?
In London, a garage conversion typically costs around £18,000, about 30% above the UK average of £14,000. In the North, Scotland and Wales the guide figure is nearer £13,000.
| Region | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands / East (UK average) | £7,500 | £14,000 | £20,000 |
| London | £9,800 | £18,000 | £26,000 |
| South East / South West | £8,600 | £16,000 | £23,000 |
| North / Scotland / Wales | £6,900 | £13,000 | £18,500 |
Guide prices for the conversion, scaled with the same regional multipliers as the calculator. Not quotes.
Garage conversion cost in major UK cities
| City | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £6,400 | £12,000 | £17,000 |
| Birmingham | £7,400 | £13,500 | £19,500 |
| Bristol | £8,300 | £15,500 | £22,000 |
| Cardiff | £7,100 | £13,000 | £19,000 |
| Edinburgh | £7,400 | £13,500 | £19,500 |
| Glasgow | £6,800 | £12,500 | £18,000 |
| Leeds | £7,000 | £13,000 | £18,500 |
| Liverpool | £6,900 | £13,000 | £18,500 |
| London | £9,800 | £18,000 | £26,000 |
| Manchester | £7,200 | £13,500 | £19,000 |
| Newcastle | £6,800 | £12,500 | £18,000 |
| Sheffield | £6,900 | £13,000 | £18,500 |
City guide estimates, scaled by local labour costs. Indicative averages for garage conversion, not quotes.
Labour is almost all of the difference.
Common questions
How much does it cost to convert a single garage?
Converting a single integral garage into a basic habitable room typically costs £7,500 to £12,000. A higher spec, or adding plumbing, takes it to £15,000 to £18,000.
Do I need planning permission to convert a garage?
Most garage conversions are permitted development because the work is internal, but you will need building control sign-off, and some homes have a planning condition that keeps the garage as parking. Check before you start.
Does a garage conversion add value?
It usually does, because it adds usable living space at a relatively low cost, though it can reduce value where buyers in the area expect a garage and off-street parking.
How much does it cost to add an en-suite or kitchenette to a garage conversion?
Adding wet facilities to a garage conversion usually adds around £3,000 to £6,000 on top of a dry conversion. The cost covers running hot and cold supply and waste to the room, fitting a shower, basin and WC or a small kitchenette, plus tiling, waterproofing and extra electrics. Routing drainage to an existing soil stack keeps it cheaper; a long run or a pumped system costs more. This is the main reason a conversion moves from the lower end of the band toward £20,000, so it is worth confirming drainage routes before you commit.
How long does a garage conversion take?
A standard single garage conversion usually takes around three to five weeks on site once work starts, and a double or one with an en-suite can run to six weeks or more. The timeline covers infilling the door opening, insulating, first fix, plastering and drying out, then second fix and decoration. Allow extra time beforehand for drawings, a building control application and booking the work in, which can add several weeks. Plastering needs time to dry before decorating, so rushing that stage tends to cause problems later.
Is it cheaper to convert a garage than build an extension?
Converting a garage is usually cheaper than a comparable extension because the walls, roof and slab already exist. A typical garage conversion costs around £14,000, while even a modest single-storey extension generally starts well above £20,000 and often costs more once foundations and a new roof are included. The trade-off is that you lose the garage and gain less choice over size and layout. If the existing footprint suits your needs, converting gives you habitable space at a fraction of the cost of building from scratch.
What is the cheapest way to do a garage conversion?
A garage conversion stays cheapest when you keep the existing footprint, avoid moving the door opening more than needed, and skip plumbing. A dry, structurally sound single garage turned into a simple room, with no en-suite or kitchenette, can start from around £7,500. Costs rise once you add water, drainage or structural work, so a plain habitable room is the lowest-cost route.
Do you need building regulations approval to convert a garage?
Building Regulations approval is required for a garage conversion in England and Wales, even when the work is permitted development and needs no planning permission. The two are separate. Approval covers structure, insulation to current Part L standards, fire safety, ventilation, damp-proofing and electrics, and is signed off by building control. Building control fees are usually a few hundred pounds, often £400 to £800, and sit on top of the conversion cost itself.
Do garage conversions suffer from damp?
They can, and it is the one part of the job worth paying properly for because it is expensive to put right afterwards. Most garages were never built as habitable rooms: the slab is often thin and may have no effective damp proof membrane, external ground levels can sit higher than the floor, and there is very little ventilation. While the garage is unheated and draughty that moisture evaporates harmlessly. Insulate it, seal up the door opening and lay a floor, and the same moisture has nowhere to go. That is how you end up with mould along the skirtings, a musty smell and a floor that never feels warm, and it typically shows up a year or two later rather than at handover, which is exactly why a cheap job can look fine when you pay for it. Two details do most of the work: a membrane under the slab or under the screed rather than laid loose on top of it, and a properly detailed junction where the floor meets the wall and the damp proofing meets the insulation. Both are things building control looks at, which is a reason to welcome the inspection rather than resent it, and a reason the cheapest quote in a £7,500 to £20,000 spread is not always the cheapest job.
Can I convert my garage myself?
Parts of it, yes. Studwork, insulation, plasterboarding and flooring are within reach of a competent DIYer, and on a typical £14,000 job labour is around 45 to 55 percent of the cost, so you could save a fair bit. The work still needs building regulations approval, and the wall, floor, insulation and any electrics must meet standards. Poor damp-proofing or an unsigned-off conversion causes real problems when you sell, so most people use a builder for the shell.
Official guidance and sources
The rules and schemes referenced on this page come from these official UK sources. The price figures are Costwise's own; see how we price.
- Planning permission: common projects Planning Portal · Converting a garage is often permitted development, but building regulations apply.
- When you need planning permission GOV.UK · When planning permission is needed for the change of use.
These are independent guide prices based on typical UK jobs in 2026. Your actual cost depends on your property, spec, access and where you live. Always get at least three written quotes before committing.