Garage use?

[Trackman]

My ex-colleague had one too, he used to do a lot of maintenance on his car too so it came in useful. I'm glad i don't have one, i can guarantee i'd fall down it at least once a month.

Ours had sort of strong wooden planks that covered it up so you couldn't fall down it when it was not is use.

 

[jmh59]

Our garage (1935 house) is wide enough for a decent depth of shelving down one side plus a car, but has not seen our car in many years. When we had an Astra (the new-ish shape one, 1991 I think it was) the width was fine but the length only just. None of our subsequent cars would fit. So it's a glory hole, mainly for me making even more of a mess, plus a chest freezer.

As an aside, the house I grew up in had two drives, front and rear. The front drive was sufficiently wide and easy access for my old Mk 1 Escort and SWB and LWB land rovers. But it was such a tight squeeze for the Hyundai i30 - I mean inches and only if I took the width of the road and came back absolutely straight. Just shows how cars have fattened out.

 

[jfollows]

If a mate wanted to change his oil, and slip me a tenner, I suppose that's not a problem, but if I were to rent the space out regularly then ???

You can earn £1,000/year without either having to pay tax or needing to declare the income - I can't remember if this falls into the "trading allowance" or "property allowance" but each allows you the £1,000. See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income

 

[Howardh]

My old house (built around 1970) had an inspection pit, so I guess there any still a few knocking around.
I don't think they would be allowed these days.

The house was built between the wars, 1930's I think without looking at the deeds, no idea though if the inspection pit was built at the same time or dug out later, clue though is the brickwork of the pit are identical to that of the house, so I'm assuming it was. Covered by strong wooden sleepers!

You can earn £1,000/year without either having to pay tax or needing to declare the income - I can't remember if this falls into the "trading allowance" or "property allowance" but each allows you the £1,000. See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income

Thanks, but still have insurance concerns, the premium might take away the earnings, especially as there's machinery involved that can remove fingers!!

 

[StoneRoad]

Garage is too narrow for all but the smallest car in this household - although they'll all fit on the driveway.

Instead, apart from storage and a small number of old woodworking machinery, the garage is home to three old [1960s] British motorcycles. e2a - no pit but we did invest in one of those m/c benches that adjust for height.

The recent weather has reminded me that we need to do *something* about the damp [no dpc ! and the roof is on it's last rafter !]. Over the summer we replaced the doors and windows as a start on renovations ...

 

[PeterY]

I wonder if the UK is alone where people leave their £35k new car out in the street and store two hundred quid's worth of old furniture and a washing machine in their garage.

I rent a council garage. I need to store a few gardening tools, for work. So instead of paying to store air, I can squeeze my little car in there too. Two advantages, last year, I've never had to defrost it or use de-icer and I leave the handbrake off but in gear. In the block where I rent my garage about 50 garages, some people put their cars in but most are used for storing junk or building materials.

 

[birchesgreen]

Ours had sort of strong wooden planks that covered it up so you couldn't fall down it when it was not is use.

I'd still manage somehow.

 

[StKeverne1497]

Was this development in Arizona by any chance?
Can't think of anywhere I know in the UK where we have a big garage and large drive for off road parking.

In the UK, in the midlands in fact. Yes, I was surprised too!

 

[Gloster]

Most of the houses in my cul-de-sac road are mid-1970s with double garages, some with a central pillar and some with one wide door. Mine had a central pillar and I measured the door: I could have got my Sandero in with about an inch to spare on each side, but only if I folded the wing mirrors. Quite a few houses have put a transversal wall a couple of feet in: the outer section is used for garden tools, car bits and the like, while the section behind looks like either a utility room, hobby room or a spare one. Except for the two empty houses, mine is the only house without a car of the thirty or so properties: most have between two and four. There is a fair amount of drive space, but at least one has a habit of parking three-quarters on the pavement.

 

[IanXC]

Many years of watching Bangers and Cash leads me to believe that the best place to park a car is in a car port. I currently have neither this or a garage but it does form a factor in my house hunting!

Growing up I distinctly remember both of my parents cars fitting into the double garage, but I by the time I left home only one did, with a double width up and over door, the other side of the garage gained a run of kitchen units which was effectively a workshop, plus space for lawnmower etc.

A final thought on the topic, I would be distinctly uncomfortable with an integral garage these days given the propensity and relatively unknown nature of EV battery fires. In my book an EV is definitely not going in a garage connected in any way to the house!

 

[david1212]

A final thought on the topic, I would be distinctly uncomfortable with an integral garage these days given the propensity and relatively unknown nature of EV battery fires. In my book an EV is definitely not going in a garage connected in any way to the house!

Hmmmmmmmmm.....
I had not thought about this. The probability ought to be very low as the battery manufacture quality control should be rather better than the e-scooters etc. that do have battery 'thermal incidents' but the consequences are serious.

 

[IanXC]

Hmmmmmmmmm.....
I had not thought about this. The probability ought to be very low as the battery manufacture quality control should be rather better than the e-scooters etc. that do have battery 'thermal incidents' but the consequences are serious.

Oh absolutely its not in the mould of e-scooters.

But, as has been reported in car insurance costs, we don't really know the extent to which they are damaged in minor accidents, plus we don't really know how they degrade over time. I suspect my fears may be excessive but I'd rather be safe that sorry!

 

[chris53]

Many councils have a presumption against approving planning permission for garages to be converted to anything else, presumably to discourage cars being parked on the street though in practice people just park on the street anyway

 

[The exile]

Depends if other countries have garages wide enough to allow a car in through the door.

Or to permit the driver to leave the car without driving out of the garage again!

 

[greyman42]

Some lunatics used them for storing toilet roll during Covid.

 

[Fenchurch SP]

I stayed in an "apartment" in Trowbridge which was a converted garage. Tiny but comfortable.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Easy - converted the garage into study no 2 , - which was a good send under COVID allowing 2 young adults to properly work from home in comfort for a while . Also allows more book storage onto existing study + 2 sheds....

1930's house with decent off street parking.....

 

[Energy]

A final thought on the topic, I would be distinctly uncomfortable with an integral garage these days given the propensity and relatively unknown nature of EV battery fires. In my book an EV is definitely not going in a garage connected in any way to the house!

Oh absolutely its not in the mould of e-scooters.

But, as has been reported in car insurance costs, we don't really know the extent to which they are damaged in minor accidents, plus we don't really know how they degrade over time. I suspect my fears may be excessive but I'd rather be safe that sorry!

No statistics in the UK but in Australia their government found a 0.0012% chance of fire compared to 0.1% for an EV. And in Sweden there are 3.8 fires per 100,000 hybrid/electric vehicles compared to 68 for petrol/diesel vehicles. [source]

EVs are more likely to cause a downturn in garages because of sharing chargers. With the 200+ mile ranges on many models. They can easily share a charger between several cars, for a 2 car household they'd be fine with a single charger so a double driveway with a single charger in between is much easier to share between then switching between the garage and driveway.

Many councils have a presumption against approving planning permission for garages to be converted to anything else, presumably to discourage cars being parked on the street though in practice people just park on the street anyway

Different councils have different standards.

For Warwick District Council they want

1 bed 1 space
2 bed 2 spaces
3 bed 2 spaces
4+ bed 3 spaces

Along with 20% of parking spots being unallocated (for 10+ properties). And 1 cycling spot per bedroom.

Warwick District Council also no longer include garages as parking due to their lack of use, and where they are present they recommend that they should be much wider.

 

[32475]

I converted our double/ two story garage into a holiday let cottage and very successful it’s been too. Planning and building regs approval were included!

 

[Dr_Paul]

Even with older cars they were often a pretty tight fit. I could barely get out of the car at the house I owned 35 years ago.

You can see a lot of pre war houses with garages apparently intended for an Austin 7

The 1930s privately-built housing estates were often built with back alleys wide enough to take a motor and a garage at the bottom of the garden, or with a garage on the side of the house as a single-storey addition. But they were pretty tight even back then, and, as others above have noted, motors are a lot fatter these days. Walking along one of these alleys the other week in the 1930s Tudor estate in Ham, I noticed that the alley showed little sign of use, with much grass, brambles and nettles along the sides, and most of the garages seemed disused. A couple of garages that were in use were modern, wider ones, clearly replacements for the original ones. Many of the houses have had their front gardens turned into parking bays, whilst some residents are content to park their motors in the road, which doesn't make things easy for bus drivers (I was on a 371 bus one afternoon, and the driver was forced by inconsiderate parking in Tudor Drive to go the wrong side of a traffic island in order to proceed up the road). Most of the garages on the side of the houses have been incorporated into two-storey extensions, and the garage doors replaced by a window.

 

[PeterC]

The 1930s privately-built housing estates were often built with back alleys wide enough to take a motor and a garage at the bottom of the garden, or with a garage on the side of the house as a single-storey addition. But they were pretty tight even back then, and, as others above have noted, motors are a lot fatter these days. Walking along one of these alleys the other week in the 1930s Tudor estate in Ham, I noticed that the alley showed little sign of use, with much grass, brambles and nettles along the sides, and most of the garages seemed disused. A couple of garages that were in use were modern, wider ones, clearly replacements for the original ones. Many of the houses have had their front gardens turned into parking bays, whilst some residents are content to park their motors in the road, which doesn't make things easy for bus drivers (I was on a 371 bus one afternoon, and the driver was forced by inconsiderate parking in Tudor Drive to go the wrong side of a traffic island in order to proceed up the road). Most of the garages on the side of the houses have been incorporated into two-storey extensions, and the garage doors replaced by a window.

A friend has a 30s terrace. Rather than carry bins and coal through the house the access road was built wide enough for the lorries of the time. Her neighbour uses the garage for his van but most front gardens are paved for parking. Of course the wheelie bins have to be left at the front.

 

[IanXC]

No statistics in the UK but in Australia their government found a 0.0012% chance of fire compared to 0.1% for an EV. And in Sweden there are 3.8 fires per 100,000 hybrid/electric vehicles compared to 68 for petrol/diesel vehicles. [source]

Unfortunately the article doesn't actually say that does it?

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency this year found that there were 3.8 fires per 100,000 electric or hybrid cars in 2022, compared with 68 fires per 100,000 cars when taking all fuel types into account. However, the latter figures include arson, making comparisons tricky.

Australia’s Department of Defence funded EV FireSafe to look into the question. It found there was a 0.0012% chance of a passenger electric vehicle battery catching fire, compared with a 0.1% chance for internal combustion engine cars.

So the Swedish data isn't comparable.

The Australian data does seem to support the idea, however in the context of integral garages a particular issue is when fires occur. EV fires anecdotally can happen at any time, petrol/diesel vehicles fires to my knowledge occur when the vehicle is in use or very shortly afterwards; not at 3am when you're tucked up in bed!

 

[E27007]

Key factors in domestic residential fires are "the chip pan" and cigarettes.
If occupants do not smoke or fry chips you have reduced a lot of the risk.
Kitchen domestic appliances such a tumble dryers and dishwashers are a risk too.
EV fires are hard to tackle, it is a chemical fire which is hard to control, the battery may self-recombust, EV cars may need to be placed in a tank of water to deal with risk of recombustion

 

[Snow1964]

Our small estate built 15 years ago, has integrated garages, about half the residents put cars in garages even though we all have room for 3 cars outside.

Sensibly the garages have about extra 2 metres on the side of car space for storage (although only single powered garage door)

 

[JonathanH]

I note a growing trend for new developments to have 'car ports' rather than garages, with a roof, but no walls, to ensure that people use them as a garage, rather than for storage.

 

[pitdiver]

I have an integrated garage. Sadly no room for a car. Ours wouldn't fit anyway. In the garage we have camping gear, fishing gear, Scuba Diving equipment and about 6 collapsible gazebos for use on our village green. Also stored in there are my wife's two wheelchairs.

 

[greyman42]

If occupants do not smoke or fry chips you have reduced a lot of the risk.

And certainly don't try either when you have come home from the pub drunk!

 

[Shrewbly]

Unexpectedly our most recent car insurance quote was more expensive if we parked in the garage rather than on the drive. Apparently this was because of claims for damage caused by drivers while driving in and out of their garages, as well as dropping things onto their cars.

Maybe this is another reason why so many garages are used for storage!