Back lanes in the old city, driveways further out
Old Newcastle was built without garages. A Tyneside flat or a Heaton terrace has a walled yard opening onto a back lane, and the car lives in the street. Look for garages further out, on the suburban semis west of Kenton Road in Gosforth and on newer development such as Newcastle Great Park, which has grown under a masterplan the council adopted in 2006.
On a newer estate, the first job is to find out whether the original permission came with conditions. The Planning Portal warns that permitted development rights for garage conversions have been taken away from some properties, and tells owners to contact the council first. A condition like that sits on the decision notice for the estate, not in your deeds, so a buyer can easily miss it. Ask the planning team for the original decision notice covering your house and read every condition before you pay for drawings. If one bars the conversion, you can still apply.
Where no condition applies, the national position is reassuring. Planning permission isn't usually needed if the work is internal and doesn't enlarge the building. Building regulations approval normally is, for the whole garage or part of it.
What sits under the old door
Brick up the opening and that new wall needs something to stand on. The Planning Portal says a new foundation may be needed, and suggests digging beside the existing one to see how deep it goes. Ground movement mostly happens in the top 0.75m or so, and the trench should reach at least the depth of any drain nearby.
Here the city's geology comes into it. Newcastle sits on Coal Measures, with old pits in the west around Callerton and North Walbottle. A footing for one wall is a small dig, but the government's rule doesn't scale down for small jobs. If the trench could reach old workings, a Mining Remediation Authority permit comes first, so look at the coal mining map before the builder books a digger.
The garage slab is the other half. The old concrete can stay as a base, but it needs a new damp-proof membrane, with insulation over it, and many owners lift the level to match the house. Radon protection goes in far more easily before the screed, so look up your address on the UKradon map. Surface water, not the Tyne, causes most of the city's flooding, which makes a higher floor no bad thing.
Ten ways to use a Newcastle garage
Integral garage. The usual case on Great Park and the newer northern estates. Check for conditions first. After that, the infill wall and the slab are where the work and the inspections go.
Single garage. One option on a tight plot is to convert the back of the garage and keep a short store at the front for bikes and bins. The door stays and the frontage is untouched.
Read our full guide: Single Garage Conversion: What Is Involved and What to Budget For →
Bedroom. Building control checks escape, daylight and ventilation. Near the Ouseburn at Great Park, an Environment Agency flood warning area, look at the flood map before anyone sleeps at ground level.
Home office. A habitable room in the eyes of the regulations, so it needs trickle vents and an opening window for purge ventilation. A window that opens less than 15 degrees doesn't count.
Utility or playroom. A new utility needs extract ventilation. Keep a playroom on the house side, where the warm wall is.
Double garage. Mostly on detached houses in the outer suburbs. Converting one bay and keeping the other for the car is the easy compromise, and it keeps a garage door on the front.
Detached garage. A workshop or hobby room used by the household typically needs no planning permission. Turning it into a separate home is different, and permission may be needed whatever the building work.
Gym or studio. On a linked or semi-detached pair the garage often shares a wall with next door's. Line it for sound before the weights or the drum kit arrive.
The two approvals. Planning depends on conditions, conservation areas and whether you own a house or a flat. Building regulations approval applies to nearly every habitable conversion, and the council's own building control team at the Civic Centre can handle it.
Cost. No prices here. A new footing, a raised floor and matching brick can each move a quote, so ask every firm what it has included.
Flats, Byker and the protected streets
If the garage belongs to a flat, householder permitted development doesn't apply at all, because the government's guidance says a flat isn't a house. Inside work may still be fine. Bricking up the door or adding a window is a matter for the planning team.
Buildings on the Byker estate have been listed Grade II* since January 2007, and work to a listed building can need listed building consent on top of everything else. In Summerhill, a 1990 direction brings all householder works on the main streets under planning control. Northumberland Gardens, the estate of early twentieth century semis on private roads at the western edge of the city, has had a direction restricting householder rights since 1997. In any of the 12 conservation areas, show the planners the new front before you order bricks.
Where these facts come from
- Planning Portal: garage conversion planning permission
- Planning Portal: converting a garage into a workshop
- Planning Portal: garage conversion building regulations
- Planning Portal: in-fill garage door
- Planning Portal: garage conversion flooring
- Planning Portal: garage conversion ventilation
- GOV.UK: home extensions in former coal mining areas
- GOV.UK: permitted development rights for householders, technical guidance
- Newcastle City Council: preliminary flood risk assessment
- Environment Agency: Ouseburn at Woolsington, Brunton Mill, Great Park and Red House Farm
- Planning Data: Byker Neighbourhood Estate Office, Grade II*
- Newcastle City Council: Article 4 directions
- Newcastle City Council: conservation areas
- Newcastle City Council: building control
- UKHSA: UK radon map
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Questions people in Newcastle ask
We bought on Great Park. How do we find out if we're allowed to convert the garage?
Ask the council's planning team for the decision notice that covered your house when the estate was built, and read the conditions. Your solicitor's searches may not have flagged one. Read the title for covenants too.
Does the coal mining risk apply to something as small as one new wall?
It can. The government's guidance is about whether foundations or drains could disturb old seams, workings or mine entries, not the size of the job. Look up your address on the coal mining map first.
Our garage is under a flat in a modern block. Can we convert it?
Permitted development doesn't cover flats, so changing the outside needs planning permission. You'll also need building regulations approval, and the block's lease or management company will have a say.
Can we turn the detached garage in our Gosforth garden into a room for my mum?
That's the hardest case. A hobby room for the household is one thing. Once someone lives there, planning permission may be needed whatever the building work, so ask the planning team early.