It’s the day you’ve been dreading: “Mum, Dad, can we move back home?”
It was hard enough when they moved out and the house felt empty and quiet. But now you’re used to the peace, you appreciate the extra space and you’ve finally decided what to do with that spare room space. And now they want to move back in.
The ‘moving home’ dilemma
On the one hand, you want to help your kids out. You know it’s almost impossible to save for a house deposit whilst paying rent. On the other hand, you quite like your own space and you don’t want a full house again. Especially now that everyone works from home.
Even if you have a spare room and you technically have space for your son or daughter and their partner to move back in, readjusting to other people being back in your house is hard. There are the food fights (“who ate those sirloin steaks?”), and the cleaning conversations (“this isn’t a hotel”). Not to mention the daily fight for the home office and the kitchen table
But there is another way…
How to move your kids back in without moving them in
Introducing the garden living room. Forget the granny annexe, this is the ‘canny’ annexe. It’s a way for you to get your space back (without ruining your relationship), and for your son or daughter to maintain privacy and independence while saving up for a house deposit.
It’s exactly what Mima in Milton Keynes did for her daughter Hannah.
Hannah and her boyfriend had moved back in with Hannah’s Mum to save money on rent, but they needed their own space during the day, especially because Hannah works from home. So we built Hannah and her boyfriend a garden living room.
Creating the perfect living space in your garden
It’s amazing what you can fit in a garden room without it taking over your whole garden. Here’s what was on Hannah’s hangout and work-from-home wish list:
- Shower room (with a powerful shower)
- Toilet
- Airing cupboard (with boiler)
- Kitchenette with built-in fridge and cupboards
- Living area with built-in heater and electrics and spot lights
And the best bit? Hannah got to choose the décor and design the space as if it was her own place.
Can you live and sleep in a garden room?
You could go one step further and add a bedroom because, yes you can live and sleep in a garden room. But if the building is being used for ancillary accommodation or habitation (i.e. as an extension of your house) then you’ll need to check out the planning rules and you’ll need planning permission.
Of course, if you’re occasionally folding out a sofa bed, or using your garden room to host the odd guest, that would be classed as incidental accommodation so the planning regulations are different.
The good news is that if you choose the New Garden Room Company for your garden room, we have planning experts and structural engineers all under one roof. So we can handle everything from building regs and planning permission to architecture and design which means you don’t have to deal with lots of different suppliers (or the council planning office).
There are so many creative ways to use a garden room but this fully functional ‘starter home from home’ will not only save your kids money, it might just save you from killing each other too!
And when the kids have moved out, you’ll have an extra space for guests to stay or somewhere to ‘escape’ your other half.
Need more space for your grown-up kids? Get in touch.
FREE FULL HOME SURVEY & DESIGN – NO COMMITMENT!
We can help with space planning, technical drawings and samples of your finishes - all for free.
Get your estimate by clicking the button below. If you have any questions, call us on 01865 341000 - our phone lines are open Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm.
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