Do Garden Rooms Add Value to Your Home?
Published: 17 March 2025
Reading Time: 5 minutes
When purchasing a garden room, it’s natural to focus on how you intend to use it now. However, it’s also wise to consider its potential impact on the future value of your property. A well-designed garden room can be a valuable asset, appealing to future buyers and increasing your home’s marketability.
How Much Value Can a Garden Room Add?
It is widely agreed among estate agents that a high-quality garden room can add between 5 and 15% to the value of a home. However, the key factor here is quality—both in terms of the building’s specification and its design appeal.
A well-built garden room with a robust, multi-layer construction, high-performance insulation, and premium materials will hold its value better than a lower-spec alternative. Choosing durable, low-maintenance finishes for the exterior and a well-finished, comfortable interior ensures the building remains an asset for years to come.
Design also plays a crucial role. While quirky or whimsical styles may reflect individual taste, a more universally appealing design will be more attractive to future buyers. A simple, timeless aesthetic with high-spec glazing and a neutral finish tends to have broader appeal, ensuring the garden room integrates seamlessly into different garden styles that future owners may prefer.
Versatility is Key
The size and layout of your garden room play a significant role in its long-term value. A versatile space that can be adapted for different uses will be more attractive to potential buyers. For instance, while you may use the room as a gym, a future owner may want to use it as an art studio or office.
Including practical features such as a storage room, cloakroom, or shower room expands the possibilities for future use. Additionally, opting for a design that complies with building regulations allows the garden room to be used as a guest bedroom, further increasing its value.
Choosing Durable, Low-Maintenance Materials
Buyers are often drawn to garden rooms that require minimal upkeep. Selecting durable, low-maintenance materials ensures the building retains its aesthetic appeal without burdening new owners with ongoing maintenance.
- Roof coverings: EPDM rubber roofs are long-lasting, maintenance-free, and laid in one piece to avoid leaks.
- Exterior cladding: Hard-wearing, aesthetically pleasing options like Western Red Cedar, composite wood claddings (e.g., Cedral, Hardie Plank), and composite decking are popular for their longevity and minimal upkeep.
- Doors and windows: High-specification glazing and durable frames not only enhance energy efficiency but also strengthen the indoor-outdoor connection that makes garden rooms so appealing.
Interior Appeal and Comfort
Keeping the interior as close to a conventional room in a house as possible adds to the appeal, helping potential buyers visualise how they might use the space beyond its current function. High-quality finishes such as plastered and painted walls, engineered wood or laminate flooring, and well-designed lighting create a space that feels like a natural extension of the home.
Having easy-to-use heating solutions, such as electric radiators or underfloor heating, further reinforces that a garden room is a comfortable, usable space year-round, rather than just a glorified shed.
Not Everyone Wants a Garden Room
While many buyers see a garden room as a desirable feature, others may view it as an unnecessary addition. We often receive emails from new homeowners looking to sell an inherited garden room because it does not fit their needs or tastes. Recent cases include:
- A log cabin-style building with quirky glazing and a tiled roof that had a whimsical, fairy-tale look, which did not match the new owner's aesthetic.
- Garden rooms constructed with lower-quality materials that had aged poorly, and so the building looks dated and unloved.
- Large garden rooms that dominated the outdoor space, limiting the garden’s usability for a family.
Log Cabin-Style Garden Rooms and Their Value
Some homeowners choose log cabin-style interlocking timber buildings as garden rooms. However, in our experience, these are not as popular with new property owners. Unlike multi-layer garden rooms, they are not as well insulated or durable, meaning they don’t provide the same year-round comfort. On the positive side, they are one of the easiest types of garden buildings to relocate, as the interlocking timbers can be carefully dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere.
While these buildings are significantly cheaper to buy initially, they do not add the same level of value to a property and tend to have a lower resale value compared to high-specification, insulated garden rooms.
Can You Sell or Relocate a Garden Room?
From years of helping people sell their garden rooms, we can confirm that only certain types of buildings are easily relocated. While some buyers may be interested, the second-hand market is not as strong as one might think. Many buyers are looking for a bargain that makes dismantling, transporting, and rebuilding the structure worthwhile.
Garden rooms that have a second hand value include:
- Pods craned into position, as they can be removed in the same way.
- Modular designs that can be successfully dismantled and rebuilt.
However, garden rooms with SIPs cores and plastered interiors can suffer too much damage during dismantling, making relocation impractical.
An Eye to the Future Will Pay Dividends
A well-specified, durable, and versatile garden room can certainly add value to your home, making it more attractive to potential buyers. When choosing your garden room, consider not only your immediate needs but also its future appeal. A design that blends functionality, quality materials, and low-maintenance features will stand the test of time and enhance your property’s value.
