A bedroom under a sloping ceiling with a roof window.

Garage loft conversion

The space above your garage could be a bedroom, an office or a playroom. Keep the garage below, or convert both and gain two rooms.

A room in the roof over a single garage typically costs £18,000 to £36,000, VAT included. See prices

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Garage loft conversion ideas

A room in the roof, tucked away from the rest of the house.

A guest bedroom under a roof window, a quiet study, or a den for the children. Sloping ceilings make it cosy, and the low corners make great storage.

Tell us what you would use it for

A bed under the roof window
Seating under the eaves
Bedroom in the roof
A study under the slope
A guest room
Guest bedroom under the eaves
A games room
Sewing and crafts
A desk at the roof window
Lounge in the roof
A window seat
Roof window over a sitting area

How do you convert the loft above a garage?

A room in the roof needs things a ground-floor room does not: a stronger floor, stairs, headroom and a way out in a fire.

Timber beams and joists in a roof under construction.

A floor strong enough to live on

The joists over a garage are usually built to hold a ceiling, not a bedroom. A structural engineer designs new or strengthened joists, and we check the walls below can take the weight.

A white staircase rising from a bright hallway.

Stairs that fit

A fixed staircase goes in, from the house, the garage or a landing. Building regulations allow a little less headroom over loft stairs: 1.9 metres in the middle. That often makes a stair fit where it otherwise would not.

Sunlight through a roof window in a sloping ceiling.

Daylight through the roof

Roof windows go into the existing slopes, so the room gets light without changing the roofline. That usually keeps the job simple and the planning easy.

A safe way out

A room upstairs needs a way out in a fire. Usually that is a window big enough to climb through: at least 0.33 square metres, with no side under 45 centimetres. The floor between the garage and the room is fire-resisting too.

A builder fitting insulation into a ceiling.

Warm under the slates

The roof slopes and floor are insulated to building regulations, with heating, lights and sockets. Low corners under the eaves become built-in storage.

An inspector checking the inside of a house.

Inspected and signed off

Building control checks the structure, stairs and fire safety as the work goes, and issues a completion certificate at the end.

What fits in the roof above a garage?

The roof space is roughly the size of the garage below: about 2.2 by 4.7 metres over a smaller single garage. The usable part is the middle, under the ridge, where you can stand up. That takes a double bed or a desk, with storage tucked under the low eaves.

Over a double garage there is far more room. We measure the height under the ridge at the visit, because that decides what will work.

Book a visit to measure up

A bedroom in the roof: the bed under the ridge, storage under the low eaves, roof windows in both slopes.

How much does a garage loft conversion cost?

A room in the existing roof above a single garage typically costs £18,000 to £36,000, VAT included. That is for a roof already tall enough to stand in, with the stronger floor, stairs, roof windows and insulation such a room needs. Raising the roof or adding a dormer is priced at the visit.

Ask for a price for yours

Your garage loft	Typical cost
Room in the roof over a single garage	£18,000 to £36,000
Converting the garage below as well	£14,500 to £23,000 more
Shower room upstairs	£6,500 to £9,500 more
Raising the roof or a dormer	Priced at the visit

Prices include VAT and were checked on 18 October 2026. The ground-floor price was checked on 14 October 2026.

Other garages: single, double, detached, integral and half or partial conversions.

Planning and building regulations for a garage loft

Inside the roof: often no applicationRoof windows that sit in the existing slopes usually need no planning permission. In our records, three of four applications for a room over a garage were approved.

Raising the roof: usually planningMaking the roof taller or adding a dormer usually needs permission. The one refusal we found also raised a garage roof, alongside a two-storey extension.

Building regulations: alwaysA new room upstairs always needs building control approval: the floor, stairs, headroom, insulation and a way out in a fire are all checked.

Planning records from councils collected by PlanIt for eight West Midlands councils, 2016 to October 2026. Stair headroom: Bath and North East Somerset building control. Escape windows: CNC Building Control.

Wondering if your garage roof is tall enough? We will measure it and tell you straight.

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Questions about garage loft conversions

Not sure what your roof will allow? Send a photo of the garage with your enquiry and we will take a first look.

Ask us a question

How much does a garage loft conversion cost?

Typically £18,000 to £36,000, VAT included, for a room in the existing roof over a single garage. Raising the roof, adding a dormer or fitting a shower room costs more, and is priced at the visit.

Is it cheaper to convert the garage or the loft above it?

Converting the garage itself is usually cheaper, typically £14,500 to £23,000 for a single garage, because there are no stairs or floor strengthening. Many people do both, for two rooms from one garage. Single garage conversions.

Is there enough headroom above my garage?

It depends on how steep the roof is. A shallow roof may not give enough standing height without raising it, which usually needs planning permission. We measure the height under the ridge at the visit and tell you straight.

Do I need planning permission for a garage loft conversion?

Often not, if the work stays inside the existing roof and the windows sit flush in the slopes. Raising the roof or adding a dormer usually does need it. A detached garage with rooms upstairs falls outside the usual rules: Solihull refused one certificate for exactly that.

Can the room above the garage be a bedroom?

Yes, as long as it has proper stairs, enough headroom and a safe way out in a fire. Those are the things building control checks before signing it off.

How long does a garage loft conversion take?

Longer than a ground-floor conversion, because of the structural work and the stairs. Ask how long yours will take when we visit.

Other rooms

All prices

Get a price for your garage loft

We convert the space above garages across Solihull, Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield, Coventry and Warwickshire. Tell us about your garage and what you would use the room for.

A visit first, to measure the headroom and check the structure.
A written price before any work starts.
Typical prices are above, so you know the ballpark.