Enthusiasts lockups/garages idea
Discussion
My wife and I are just about to move into our new house with a 2 acre garden and were thinking of ways of creating some income from it.
One of the things I thought of was car storage garages, but with a twist.
Back in the day when i lived in a flat and my caterham had to be stored in a rented lockup i found the whole thing to be a pain.
The garage had no power so inevitably there were battery problems, and if you wanted to do anything you had to either operate in the dingy light or put it outside, which actually wasnt allowed. Plus it was not much bigger than the car so there was a limited amount else you could leave there. And all tools had to be battery only.
So I was wondering if there might be a market for a more enthusiast model of beloved car storage. Not the high roller stuff but more for a simple but convenient set up for your cherished car.
Specifically
Room to store all your spares and tools etc as well as the car. I could probably acquire some fancy roller tool chests like edd always had
Power, light and water
Permitted work areas either outside the garage, or perhaps a couple of covered bays, maybe incl a pit!
Some security, more than a lockup, less than fort knox.
Pretty much come and go access with some tech like fobs, no concierge nonsense making it a faff
Some communal stuff like pressure washer, ramps the everyone could borrow for the day.
Basic idea is to knock up 8 or so permitted build garages with decent doors, or electric roller type. I've built one of these before so I have a cost effective design already. Study, secure and insulated.
I'd stick some solar Pvs on them and extend the rainwater capture system.
This is for your say £10-20k cherished (to you) sunday/summer car not your 1million aston. But would be a nice place to be
I reckon it would be about £100 per month (no vat) in South, not South East
Just wondering if that's a gap no ones filling.
I do understand how to run a business, so the legal, rates and insurance solutions are accounted for, just interested to see if theres a gap in the market between a lockup where you dont want to/cant potter about your car and the hilton who dont want you to lower the tone
One of the things I thought of was car storage garages, but with a twist.
Back in the day when i lived in a flat and my caterham had to be stored in a rented lockup i found the whole thing to be a pain.
The garage had no power so inevitably there were battery problems, and if you wanted to do anything you had to either operate in the dingy light or put it outside, which actually wasnt allowed. Plus it was not much bigger than the car so there was a limited amount else you could leave there. And all tools had to be battery only.
So I was wondering if there might be a market for a more enthusiast model of beloved car storage. Not the high roller stuff but more for a simple but convenient set up for your cherished car.
Specifically
Room to store all your spares and tools etc as well as the car. I could probably acquire some fancy roller tool chests like edd always had
Power, light and water
Permitted work areas either outside the garage, or perhaps a couple of covered bays, maybe incl a pit!
Some security, more than a lockup, less than fort knox.
Pretty much come and go access with some tech like fobs, no concierge nonsense making it a faff
Some communal stuff like pressure washer, ramps the everyone could borrow for the day.
Basic idea is to knock up 8 or so permitted build garages with decent doors, or electric roller type. I've built one of these before so I have a cost effective design already. Study, secure and insulated.
I'd stick some solar Pvs on them and extend the rainwater capture system.
This is for your say £10-20k cherished (to you) sunday/summer car not your 1million aston. But would be a nice place to be
I reckon it would be about £100 per month (no vat) in South, not South East
Just wondering if that's a gap no ones filling.
I do understand how to run a business, so the legal, rates and insurance solutions are accounted for, just interested to see if theres a gap in the market between a lockup where you dont want to/cant potter about your car and the hilton who dont want you to lower the tone
Wifflewaffle2 said:
Basic idea is to knock up 8 or so permitted build garages ...
You do appreciate that Permitted Development rights only apply if the use of the building is 'incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse'?In other words, you'll need Planning Permission for the business storage/commercial garage use.
...Which you're unlikely to be granted.
Sounds good to me considering what folks pay for self-storage of junk. What do you expect to be able to build each garage for? Obviously you'd have some economy of scale doing several. It's something I'd look at doing (along with boat and perhaps caravan storage) as and when I have the space in future. A friend of my old man has made a very good living out of self storage using shipping containers.
Wifflewaffle2 said:
I do tend to ignore off topic posts
Well, it's your funeral...Wifflewaffle2 said:
I do understand how to run a business, so the legal, rates and insurance solutions are accounted for...
...but as a Chartered Planning Consultant, I'd be interested to know how you've accounted for this.An idea I had when working away as a contractor, was that there would be a market for workshops & garages so people who have time in the weekday evenings when not with their family, can pursue their hobbies, leaving the weekends free when they get home for time with the family. I was thinking along the lines of a large farmhouse with outbuildings, with accomodation in the farmhouse, and a range of workshops of different sizes, as the hobby could be anything from painting model soldiers up to car restoration.
In addition to planning permission, other obvious issues are health & safety and noise. Panel beating and angle grinding into the small hours wouldn't be popular with everyone.
It would need to near one or more major employers with plenty of workers living away from home, and earning enough to afford both the workshop and accomodation. They would also need to be the sort of workers, e.g. engineers, that are likely to have appropriate interests.
In addition to planning permission, other obvious issues are health & safety and noise. Panel beating and angle grinding into the small hours wouldn't be popular with everyone.
It would need to near one or more major employers with plenty of workers living away from home, and earning enough to afford both the workshop and accomodation. They would also need to be the sort of workers, e.g. engineers, that are likely to have appropriate interests.
If you get planning permission to build them, I'd say £100 pm sounds about right. I pay £250+VAT pm to rent a large indoor and secure barn with power and total freedom to come and go as wished, which I much prefer to proper storage outfits and having to dick about with 24hrs notice. That houses two cars, so you'd be cheaper. And I'm down south like you.
But don't ignore what equus says. He knows this stuff.
But don't ignore what equus says. He knows this stuff.
To humour you for a minute and assume you have got the ‘legal’ sorted (which you haven’t)... no, there isn’t a gap in the market. There is no market for what you’re proposing.
Going off topic again: If this 2 acres area is your “garden” then I’m assuming it’s residential use. If you’re in a settlement, apply for planning permission for - house/houses. There’s your income. If you’re not in a settlement i.e. you’re in countryside, forget it and enjoy your large garden.
Going off topic again: If this 2 acres area is your “garden” then I’m assuming it’s residential use. If you’re in a settlement, apply for planning permission for - house/houses. There’s your income. If you’re not in a settlement i.e. you’re in countryside, forget it and enjoy your large garden.
Stephanie Plum said:
If you get planning permission to build them, I'd say £100 pm sounds about right. I pay £250+VAT pm to rent a large indoor and secure barn with power and total freedom to come and go as wished, which I much prefer to proper storage outfits and having to dick about with 24hrs notice. That houses two cars, so you'd be cheaper. And I'm down south like you.
But don't ignore what equus says. He knows this stuff.
Any pics of your unit you rent?But don't ignore what equus says. He knows this stuff.
As mentioned above, if you have that much land, build some more houses and sell / rent those. I cant really see the return on investment at £100pm given the costs to build a decent garage.
I rent my driveway spaces out to commuters using the local station for £100pm. The investment for that was zero. The payback period from building garages/lockup would be considerable.
There may be a demand for it in specific areas but you can these days get basic lockup storage for a car for £100pm or less in most areas, so youd really want to prove the local demand for it first before exploring it further. I'm going to endeavour to get planning for a house down the end of my garden at some stage as the return on that would be far more lucrative than if it were a garage etc
I rent my driveway spaces out to commuters using the local station for £100pm. The investment for that was zero. The payback period from building garages/lockup would be considerable.
There may be a demand for it in specific areas but you can these days get basic lockup storage for a car for £100pm or less in most areas, so youd really want to prove the local demand for it first before exploring it further. I'm going to endeavour to get planning for a house down the end of my garden at some stage as the return on that would be far more lucrative than if it were a garage etc
it's definitely something that would interest me - could easily pay that for a single garage lock-up down our way and I love the idea of having a bit more room and the idea of having ramps/pits/lifts available on site would be great as well.
You could even rent out stuff like engine hoists & stands too.
Must confess that I'm not convinced by the economics and planning aspects of the idea though!
You could even rent out stuff like engine hoists & stands too.
Must confess that I'm not convinced by the economics and planning aspects of the idea though!
TheHat said:
I very much doubt people will pay that much.
Although those days are gone, I used to tinker on my 'toy' car in a parking space with no tool storage (flat) and no lighting/etc. I would have happily paid £100/month for what the OP is proposing. I did look into council garages at the time which of course are much cheaper, but also they're terrible.There may be no market for this type of thing to make millions, but in the right place I imagine he could quite easily fill 8 garages for a bit of "lifestyle income". I'd minimise on the inclusive tools etc just from a liability point of view.
No idea re: Planning etc, but good luck with that - I think this is a good idea. If nothing else I'd enjoy keeping an eye on what fellow enthusiasts were up to.
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