The 54m2 garage was plenty big enough for conversion.

It took four trips to the dump, throwing out party-worn couches from the garage, before Jenny Forbes decided it was time to renovate. But, as she was soon to find out, converting a garage into a liveable two-bedroom cottage was not as simple as “bang up gib, and ‘hey presto’ you’ve got a house”, she says.

“There’s so much more to it than that.”

Forbes and her husband originally purchased their Hastings property in 2004 as a three-bedroom house with a separate (and rather large) garage out the back.

The property was number five for the couple, the middle child of nine houses in total.

THE PATH TOWARDS CONVERTING A GARAGE

There are several key steps to converting a garage into a livable dwelling. The first is working with the council to understand how the rules governing the classification of buildings will apply to your project.

Some key questions will be:

• Will the conversion provide sleeping accommodation?

• Do you plan to install a bathroom and/or kitchen?

• Will your conversion be considered as a minor residential unit/dwelling?

Councils require you notify them in writing of your proposed change, and apply for the necessary consents.

As part of the consenting stage you will draw up and commit to designs for your conversion.

While the actual renovation of a garage into a minor dwelling is typically straightforward, having a competent builder to help navigate building inspections and sign-off will ensure you get the details right.

A good designer will ensure you minimise council “requests for information” and streamline the consenting process.

While it’s not as straightforward s lining the walls and laying carpet, this type of conversion is not uncommon and councils are adept at guiding their customers through the requirements.

Builderscrack.co.nz has the designers, builders and sub-trades to make your conversion project a success.

ABOVE A light and modern kitchen in the former ‘party central’ garage.

BELOW The stylish new bathroom.

RIGHT Two good-sized bedrooms were created.

PARTY MAGNET

However, it wasn’t long before the new owners realised that rather than attract cars and storage boxes, the garage seemed to attract rowdy parties – tenancy after tenancy.

“The garage was never used. I never once saw a tenant’s car in the garage,” Forbes says.

“And we were never happy with the state of the house at the end of each tenancy, or the tenants.”

But it was 15 years before she was able to convert her garage into something a little less “happy-hour” happy.

Forbes said between kids, work and life, there was no time. And when you are paying off a mortgage, you don’t have any spare money anyways.

Then finally in 2019, when the current tenants handed in their notice, the decision was made to strip out the garage.

Everything, including all consents and documents were ready to go in March 2020.

LOCKDOWN LAGS

But at the exact same time the Covid-19 lockdown struck, which sent everything, once again, into a frustratingly-long holding pattern for eight months.

“Even when things were open all the tradies were so busy. I had no one to do the plumbing,” she says.

It was the end of 2021 before anything got going.

The original garage was a very roomy 54m2, complete with an adjacent rumpus room sporting a fireplace.

“So you could see why it was a party-central pad for so many years,” she says.

Forbes gutted the lot.

“It was a major refurbishment, more than anything I’ve ever done on my houses,” Forbes says.

“Basically, we only ended up with the shell.”

The floorplan was divided up between two reasonably-sized bedrooms (2.35m2 x 2.7m2) with internal wardrobes, a bathroom and a kitchen.

Amenities were set up, a new driveway was laid, and even the surrounding garden got some TLC … but they got rid of the fireplace.

The entire renovation cost $140,000, which is definitely at the more expensive end of the spectrum. But Forbes figured: “Do it once and do it right.

“With my rentals, I live by the standard of: I wouldn’t have a rental that I wouldn’t live in.”

‘It was a major refurbishment, more than anything I’ve ever done on my houses’ JENNY FORBES

ADDED FEES

Not all of the budget was spent on tradesmen and material either. As Forbes learned, nothing about this renovation was going to be smooth sailing.

A whole $2800 was spent on just the building application fee.

Then there was another $8200 bill for the development fee.

And on top of all that, Forbes also had to pay $300 for a form asking the neighbours if they were OK with the cottage-to-be. They could have said no … but thankfully they didn’t.

“Before you start building you’ve almost spent $20K. And everything takes so long to get sorted.”

The final result was two tenancies on one property. At 663m2, the land was too small to subdivide, so the cottage remained on the original title as a minor dwelling.

“This does mean we’ll never be able to sell the property separately,” Forbes says.

“But the way I see it, it was another rental income without having to pay for the land.”

All in all, the process was longer and more intensive than anything Forbes has tackled before.

But the end result was more than worth it and will likely pay for itself in “about five years”, she says.

RENT DOUBLED

Rent on the main three-bedroom house was $435 per week. The now two-bed cottage fetches $420 per week.

This is a more than double rental increase from $435 to $850.

A current valuation is more hard to pinpoint, because once it’s renovated, the QV value is no longer relevant.

Instead of paying for a valuation herself, Forbes says she waits for the new QV valuation to pop through her letterbox – then she objects to it.

“They’ll phone me and discuss the objection. If we’ve done major refurbishment, it’s usually pretty accurate,” she says.

“When you pay $1500 on a driveway, it’s going to increase the price.”

A two-bedroom flip for the garage certainly wasn’t always the plan. At best, Forbes thought it could be a good sleepout.

“But then the price of land and property shot up. So we thought, what can we do to add value to the rentals we’ve got?”

In hindsight, it might have been easier to demolish the garage and start again, but that’s a “whole other ball game”, Forbes says.