I wonder why most estate agents don't bother to measure the size of the garage before they prepare their brochure? If it's a single garage and the agent won't ring the vendor and ask them the size then I won't view the property. (If it's a double then the length is not as critical.) Incidentally, I've just seen a newly built house advertised which has a mere 14'6" long single garage! For anyone that wants to garage their car that is a complete waste of time.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Would agree with you with regard to the size of most house/bungalow garages - some are barely large enough to house a quad bike.
But, on the other hand, how many people actually use them for their intended purpose, rather than as an extra room to store a vast range of junk, unwanted items or house a chest freezer, washing machine etc?
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I've just seen a newly built house advertised which has a mere 14'6" long single garage! For anyone that wants to garage their car that is a complete waste of time. --
Unless they own a Fiesta,Polo,Corsa,Yaris,206..........etc.
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Cars have been increasing in size over a large number of years. Garages have not.
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In our last house, the garage got narrower before you reached the end.
Great for Capris and the like....not!
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Adam
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14'6" is probably quite generous for a new build garage. The smaller it is, the little bit more profit a developer can make. Many built over the last thirty or so years are no wider than the garage door itself either.
Thankfully my garaged car is small and fits with room for a bike and lawnmower behind it. My garage gets wider at the end!
It's a bit of a vicious circle. Garages are only small because most people don't bother to put a car in there. As people don't use garages for cars, there is no need to generally make garages big enough.
People are quirky - many spending thousands on a car and keeping it outside, because their garage is storing stuff that ought to go to the dump!
James
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14'6" is probably quite generous for a new build garage. The smaller it is, the little bit more profit a developer can make. Many built over the last thirty or so years are no wider than the garage door itself either.
A house having a garage ticks two boxes: it counts as a parking space for the developer and planning authority, and it matters to the majority of house buyers.
I doubt that most house buyers would put the car in the garage even if it was wide enough, imagine all the hassle: open door, start car, reverse car, stop car, remove keys, shut garage door, start car and drive off. Most people can't be bothered. And a modern car doesn't need a garage: they don't rust like they used to and security is much better.
Nevertheless, people want a garage. It's an aspiration, a feature of your house that you don't use, just like all the functions on your video / microwave / camera that you've never used but must have. So the garage gets built. Even though it won't house a car.
All in my opinion of course. Best thing to do with a garage is build a stud partition six feet behind the door, make a play room behind and a bin store in the front.
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An interesting point is how, on older houses, the garage door is barely wide enough for a modern car to enter. Our house was built in about 1960 and the opening was fine for Hillman Imp's etc. It's a real struggle to get the latest car, a Honda Accord, through the gap. There's about an inch gap on either side for the door mirrors. I can't fold the mirrors back because I need them to judge the gaps as I'm approaching the door! Short of rebuilding the garage or leaving the car out, not much can be done.
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I have a single garage on a new housing development (2003). The garage is, to my knowledge, standard sized and I can fit my W211 E-Class in without difficulty. I can even open the door afterwards...
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Not long ago there was an item on BBC East news, where someone near Huntingdon bought a house with a garage, but when they drove a smallish car in, didn't have enough room to open the car door. All the houses in the street were the same.
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There is a development near Yaxley, South of Peterborough, with hundreds of houses and more to come where very few people can get their car into their garage and then open the car doors. Additionally, many families own 2 cars so there is one on the drive and one in the road clogging up the street; houses both sides and parking both sides = no access for fire engines and garbage trucks = nightmare.
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I wonder why most estate agents don't bother to measure the size of the garage before they prepare their brochure? If it's a single garage and the agent won't ring the vendor and ask them the size then I won't view the property. (If it's a double then the length is not as critical.) Incidentally, I've just seen a newly built house advertised which has a mere 14'6" long single garage! For anyone that wants to garage their car that is a complete waste of time.
And people wonder why I like small cars...
My car would fit in easily, I'd have about a metre to spare :P
Actually most superminis would probably fit in there.
Cars seem to be getting far too big.
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Cars seem to be getting far too big.
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Yep each generation of cars is a little bit bigger than the previous - compare the size of a Mk1 golf to the current Mk5 one and it will be obvious. The current polo is bigger than the original golf.
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Glad to see I'm not in the minority I thought I was!
Why?
WIth the exception of my missus and one couple who are friends, NOBODY I know uses their garage as storage for an automobile.
We purchased our current house largely because the double garage is actually longer than normal as well as having no internal dividing wall, so as well as garaging the 306 and V70 every night, I also easily store my motorbike, two pushbikes, and with thoughtful planning of wall space usage, a whole lot more too. The smallest houses in our street are large four bedroom detached, and yet more and more occupants are converting their garages to extended utility rooms or home offices and leaving their motors on the driveway on in the street. In this context, knowing the dimensions for possible conversion would be more useful than knowing them to see if the car fits!
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If I could, I'd probably put my car in the garage. I wouldn't be able to give you a good reason why. Probably security although my car's usually blocked in anyway.
I wouldn't do it for any other reason though but I'd want a garage when buying my house.
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Adam
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My garage was built by the previous - to - me - bar - one - owner whne the house was gutted and reroofed.The estate agent's brochure said 32 feet x 17 feet(in 1982). Seems about right for 3 garages including a pit.
We manage all 3 cars in it plus lawnmowers x2, barbecue, chairs, workbench tools and all gardening equipment.
A house without a garage and turning space is totally inadequate so we have parking for around 10 cars as well (not that we have /want/could afford 10 cars:-).
Old houses have many disadvantages: high heating bills, constant maintenance etc: but space for cars is rarely a problem ,
If you have lots of cars and children I recommend an old house..
But when we downsize a lot of "essential" stuff will have to go..
madf
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I wonder how many people who don't garage their car have told their insurance that they do...
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On the note of garages, anyone give me advice on this one?
We live in a 3 bed semi and I have a garage at bottom of garden which is big enough and wide enough for me to put my Scenic in, have space in front of it for kids bikes etc and space at side for freezer, workbench etc.
SWMBO wants to extend the house across the driveway which would make the garage redundant as far as car access is concerned.
[Mental note - must remove car from garage before extension built ]
Would this have a negative effect on the valuation of the house ie, presume by having a garage it adds £x, if the garage is not usable for a car does it lose that £x or does it not matter?
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It depends on the priorities of the buyer.
I like a garage but it wouldn't put me off a house if there was adequate compensation in terms of more room.
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Would this have a negative effect on the valuation of the house ie, presume by having a garage it adds £x, if the garage is not usable for a car does it lose that £x or does it not matter?
how about checking rightmove.co.uk for your locality and compare prices of houses with and without garages.
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BobbyG, depending on how the extension is configured, but if it includes a bedroom then it will increase the resale value of your house and make it more saleable. The loss of the garage will be negligable sales wise.
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The insurance point (not sure how much you get off for having a car garaged - probably about 50p) is the one I have managed - sometimes with difficulty - to use to persuade SWMBO that both cars live in the garage, not just assorted gubbins which would easily expand to fill the space available.
Have you noticed that the logic of having thousands of pounds' worth of cars outside, worthless junk inside, in one which comes perfectly naturally to the feminine mind? Good to see that there are some other (presumably male) fellow-garagers with me.
I'm not being chauvinist - just stating a fact.
I agree with those who complain about garage sizes - have you noticed that it afflicts parking spaces too. It was worse as you might imagine when we had an Espace, which is 6 feet wide (for a good reason) - but even now may spaces leave very little room to open the doors even of an A4.
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I wonder how many people who don't garage their car have told their insurance that they do...
I have and I do, religiously, but out of interest in February when I last renewed the insurance on the V70, and last week for SWMBO's 306, I checked the premiums both with and without garaging.
The difference?
In every single case, with our post code at least, precisely zero.
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We're currently in the process of looking for another house, and I'm suprised at the variation in size, not necessarily the width, but the length of the garage. Although one house I've seen on the net has a 33' garage!
What annoys me the most is that some of the houses have turned their garage into another room. Do they not realise that a home for the car is more important than another room? I blame those silly property programs on TV....
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Where do you live, SjB? I'm near Reading and the same may apply - but I'm not telling SWMBO! I'll check with the broker and let people know.
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I have and I do, religiously, but out of interest in February when I last renewed the insurance on the V70, and last week for SWMBO's 306, I checked the premiums both with and without garaging.
The difference?
In every single case, with our post code at least, precisely zero.
Try it with the bike? or a convertable? I can't get a quote for the bike unless it is garaged.
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>In every single case, with our post code at least, precisely zero<
So presumably, the only purpose of stating that your car is garaged at night is that when something happens to it when it wasn't, the insurance co. can sidestep the claim?
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If it's a single garage and the agent won't ring the vendor and ask them the size then I won't view the property.
Cutting off nose to spite face? After all, you don't yet know that it's too small, could be missing out on the 'perfect house'.
I'm currently looking at a house which has a very interesting L-shaped garage. Some measurements need to be taken, but I think it's possible we can fit both cars, side bu side (well, at a bit of an angle) in the hinge of the L, giving two major benefits
1) Cars can be moved in and out independantly of each other
2) Far part of L can be turned into a snooker hall...
A man can dream...
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BB's post sums it up. To most housebuyers the size of the garage is secondary to a wider lounge or longer kitchen. Builders have latched on to the psychology that women are the the key to the whether a house sells or not hence the either static of shrinking garages. We are lucky at PU towers, generous and underused outbuildings have become home to an automotive fest and the 30k Beemer sleeps on the drive !
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>> If it's >> a single garage and the agent won't ring the vendor and >> ask them the size then I won't view the property. Cutting off nose to spite face? After all, you don't yet know that it's too small, could be missing out on the 'perfect house'.
I'm contemplating moving some 50 miles or more, and I'm not prepared to travel that distance to view a property which does not have a garage that I know meets my requirements. To me the quantity and sizes of the rooms (and I count the garage as a "room") are the most important factor when buying a house. If I can't fit into a house then there would be no point in me buying it. Estate agents generally give the measurements of all rooms except the garage. Why? After all it's a significant part of a house. I require my garage to house not just my car but also the major bits of my gardening and DIY equipment as well as anything else that I wouldn't wish to put into the living quarters.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Ah well, with a 100 mile round trip, I start to see your point!
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You can get a car in a garage?.......our garage is the depository for all and sundry domestic appliances. Anyway I thought putting a car in one did more harm than good!
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You can get a car in a garage?.......our garage is the depository for all and sundry domestic appliances.
The washing machine goes in the utility, the vacuum cleaner and the electric iron go in the broom cupboard and the rest of the domestic appliances go in the kitchen.
Anyway I thought puttinga car in one did more harm than good!
If the car is wet when I put it in the garage I simply switch on the dehumidifier. Once inside the garage the car is safe from prowling lowlife. In my book that's good for the car!
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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