Garden Room UK Price Guide
A garden room is a big ticket purchase. You will want to get an idea of cost, early on so that you can set your budget.
We have surveyed the UK market to find that average prices for different size garden rooms. Our findings will quickly give you an average market price which you can use as the basis for researching your options further.
To give you an idea of expenses if you decide to pursue the custom design path, we have also determined the current price ranges for bespoke garden room design.
Check to see which garden room companies work in your area
Not all of them do!
How much do garden rooms cost?
The cost of a garden room is determined by its dimensions, specification, and optional extras. An insulated outdoor room is significantly more expensive than other garden buildings such as a shed, summerhouse or log cabin.
In recent months, we have featured projects here on The Garden Room Guide that cost around £8,000 and others more than £100,000. If you were to take a 3m x 3m garden room as an example, we have found the market average to be £21,632, including VAT, foundation and installation. See averages for other size garden rooms.
Many garden room manufacturers offer pricing tables on their websites or have configurators that let you choose options and see the price update. These give you a quick indication of whether a company's work is within your budget. It can, however, be time-consuming going from website to website.
To save you time, we have researched the starting prices of more than 50 garden room ranges. We have created a table that breaks down the results by popular building size and highlighted the highest and lowest starting prices we found alongside the average of our findings.
If you want a garden room with specific dimensions, have a challenging site or want something a bit different design-wise, then the bespoke design route is for you.
With bespoke garden room design, the prices are quoted per square meter of the building's footprint size. We have again surveyed the work of a range of designers to ascertain the current range of bespoke garden room prices.
You will find that the smaller the building, the higher the price per square meter. As you go over 30sqm, you will also find that the price will rise as the specification must comply with Building Regulations. We suggest looking at the work of companies that offer garden annexes, as they are adept at incorporating the different elements required to comply with these rules.
Why Are Garden Rooms So Expensive?
If you have already explored garden room suppliers' websites or explored our pricing guide , you may have been surprised by the price of an insulated garden room.
While many people refer to an insulated garden room as a shed or summerhouse, in reality, they are very different structures, which is why there is a significant price difference.
When choosing to buy an outdoor room building, you must remember you are investing in a structure that is more akin to a modern timber frame house than a garden shed or summerhouse.
The multi-layer build-ups of an insulated garden room are designed to create a building that can be used all year round for decades to come.
This multi-layer construction utilises many different materials, and while the on-site build stage of your project may be quick, a lot of labour goes into its manufacture during the off-site phase.
The garden rooms we are writing about today are definitely more expensive than those built pre-Brexit and pre-pandemic. Material supply problems had an effect on prices, and those higher material prices have largely remained in place. These issues have been compounded by inflation.
The Way Companies Are Pricing their buildings is changing
Historically there have been two approaches to pricing garden room projects. Some companies offer a turnkey package whereby they quote for the whole project, from installing the foundations right through to undertaking the final electrical connections.
The other approach is that businesses will quote for the building and its installation and either quote you separately for the final electrical hook-up or suggest you approach a local electrician to undertake this work.
Today, there is another approach that we see several garden room manufacturers adopting. They are pricing for the building's shell and offering the other key elements as optional extras. So you might see a price for the uninsulated structure and then the option of an insulation pack, a power and lighting pack and an internal finishes pack etc.
This approach can be quite appealing if you want to do an element of the work yourself or if you have unique ideas for the internal fit-out, but do the calculations to make sure you don't end up spending more - some of the most expensive garden rooms we found in our market research were priced this way!
How much do bespoke garden rooms cost
Some of the modular garden room companies have price configurators on their websites. They allow you to pick options for your building and see the effect of your choice on the overall project cost, immediately.
If you are looking for a building that is more customised to your needs, then bespoke design is the route to take. We are often asked if bespoke design is much more expensive than their modular counterparts. Bespoke designs do tend to be more expensive, but this is often because you end up incorporating more designer features!
We have researched the market and to get an idea of bespoke design garden room prices. As a guide, companies will give you a price per square meter cost to work out your budget.
Tips when asking for an initial quote
Many people's first interaction with a garden room company is to email and ask them for a ballpark quote. This is a good idea as it gives you an indication early on if a company's offerings fit in with your budget.
From experience, we know that people often don't offer enough information for a company to give you a reasonably accurate price. We suggest you include the following in your initial communication:
- Building size - try and give them a rough footprint size, e.g. 5m wide by 3m deep. It may seem obvious, but so many people forget to do this!
- Key features you want to include - mention any important features you want to incorporate. For instance, if you were building a garden gym, you might want a taller-than-standard building or a reinforced floor. If you are planning a garden office, you may want to ensure you have data cabling for a reliable internet connection. You get the idea!
- Installation availability is - it is worth getting an idea early on how long you would have to wait for your room to be installed. Twelve weeks is fairly typical, but different companies have different lead times. Pre-designed garden room ranges typically have the shortest lead times.
Setting a budget for your garden room project
Once you have an idea of the costs of a garden room, you need to set a budget for your project. We are sorry to tell you, but you need to budget for more than just the building!
While some garden rooms are quoted as turnkey projects, whereby everything from design to the final electrical connections are included in the price quoted. The more common approach is to price for the building and installation, with extra charges made for delivery, sometimes the foundation system and often the electrical hookup.
While the delivery, foundation and electrical connection are the big-ticket extras you need to budget for, you will also need to consider any planning fees, insurance and leave money in the pot to furnish your new room.
Maximise Your Budget When Buying A Garden Room
If the price of a garden room is more than you were budgeting for, we have put together some tips on the different design choices you can make to maximise your budget.
In our guide to maximising your garden room budget, we highlight where the significant costs are, such as the exterior cladding and share tips on choices you can make that will reduce the price tag.
How do you pay for a garden room
You pay for a garden room in stages. You will be asked to pay a deposit as you confirm your order. This will secure your position in the installation diary and allow work to start on the manufacturing of your building. This deposit payment can be up to 50% of the project cost.
You will be asked to make a further payment just before the installation team arrive on site. This could be the final 50%, but more commonly it will be around 45%, leaving the remainder to be paid as the building is completed, and you are happy with the finish.
Garden room companies who offer finance
If you are looking to spread the cost of your garden room, you will want to work with a company that offers finance. You will find that not all companies offer finance options, but these companies do. In reality, the majority of the of them work with the same finance house, so you will want to compare your options against other types of loan, so that you know you are getting the best deal available.
Although not widely available, there is also the option to rent a garden room. You pay an upfront cost to cover the installation cost and then make monthly rent payments. This can be a cashflow efficient option if you are buying an office for work.
Protecting your investment
As we mentioned earlier, some garden room companies offer deposit insurance, to protect your deposit payment should the company not be able to fulfil your order. You'll also want to protect your investment once your building has been installed.
Most garden room companies offer a warranty with their buildings. The length and coverage of this warranty varies greatly between companies. Some companies offer an insurance backed warranty. This offers long term peace of mind should your original supplier not be able to rectify a problem with your building; the insurance company will step in to get the problem sorted for you.
Once built, you will want to ensure your garden room and its contents. We have heard that there can be problems simply adding the new room to your household policies. Luckily a specialist broker can help you with the right insurance cover. Reports back from buyers who have used this broker, tell us that they are very helpful, and they found them a competitive price for cover.