In Germany, garages are among the spaces in residential property that many regard as a welcome fallback option for storing excess household goods or inventory. Others use garages as a workshop or commercial storage space, for example if you operate an e-commerce business from home. After all, the space is part of the rented living area or the property.
It is important to note that the state imposes some restrictions on the use of a garage. From the legislators’ point of view, the garage was assigned only one single function when it was built: The parking of your vehicle.
So if you simply use your garage as a storage or warehouse space because, for example, you do not have a vehicle or the street in front of your house offers sufficient parking options, the principle of misuse of designated space comes into effect and in most cases you are committing an offence.
However, the state and the local authorities give you the option of applying for a change of use. This is based on the building regulations in your municipality and must be approved by the local building authority.
Below, we explain which steps are necessary for a lawful change of use for your garage and what costs are associated with it. At the same time you should also keep alternatives in mind in order to provide your belongings with a safe and perhaps even more appropriate storage place, including self-storage and full-service storage options.
Why the state interferes in the change of use of your garage
The legal requirement for the use of the garage is met with incomprehension in many households. Many view the building regulations and the rules as an intrusion into their privacy. After all, the garage belongs to one’s personal property, or one pays monthly rent for it and should therefore be allowed to decide for oneself how to use the space.
The reason for the state’s interference in your private matter has several causes.
On the one hand, the garage became part of urban planning when the building permit was issued. Parking spaces for motor vehicles are becoming increasingly scarce in German cities and municipalities. In many residential areas, no further building permits are often issued with reference to the local parking space ordinance if the planning does not provide space for garages or other parking spaces for motor vehicles on private property.
With your garage, your local building authority assumes that at least one car disappears from the street in your residential area and one fewer motor vehicle has to be counted in urban planning.
On the other hand, a change of use of the garage could lead to fundamental changes in the neighbourhood. If, for example, you want to operate a business or a workshop from your garage, this is generally associated with noise or increased traffic in your residential area. Here, the neighbours also have a say.
In addition, a change of use of your garage also raises concerns with regard to fire protection and structural changes to buildings. Living space, storage space or other commercially used areas are subject to different fire protection regulations and structural requirements.
From when is a garage legally considered a storage room or secondary room?
Whether your garage can be regarded as a parking space generally depends on whether your motor vehicle still has room in it. If you can still park your car in the garage without obstruction, the parking space fulfils its main purpose and neither the public order office nor the building authority will take a closer look.
However, regulations also apply here as to what you may store in the garage in addition to the motor vehicle.
Which use is still permitted even without approval?
In addition to your motor vehicle, depending on the applicable garage ordinance in your city/municipality, you can usually keep the following items in the garage:
- Winter/summer tyres
- Jack and other tools that you need, for example, for changing a tyre
- Roof carrier solutions such as roof racks, roof boxes, ski and snowboard carriers, bicycle carriers, etc.
- Motor vehicle operating materials such as oil and other lubricants, antifreeze, windscreen cleaner, brake fluid, etc. Please note that you may store only a limited quantity of operating materials in your garage in order to ensure fire protection.
- Fuel such as petrol or diesel, but only in the maximum quantity permitted in your federal state
Bicycles, trailers, snow shovels, road salt and brooms also normally belong among the items for which your public order office will turn a blind eye, as long as the storage does not obstruct access to your motor vehicle.
However, if you increasingly fill your garage with items that are not related to the operation of your motor vehicle, the matter becomes problematic.
The permanent storage of furniture, files, boxes of household goods and/or clothing as well as workbenches with the associated power tools are warning signals for the authorities that your garage is being misused as a storage room or workshop. In this case, you face not only high fines, but also difficulties if you subsequently submit an application for a change of use for your garage.
While the public order office generally does not snoop around in your garage without being prompted, you should bear in mind that only one call from an annoyed, hostile or vindictive neighbour is enough for the authorities to ring your doorbell for an inspection.
With proper storage of the items in self-storage or full-service storage that, according to the authorities, have no place in a garage, you could avoid this kind of neighbourhood disputes and unannounced visits by the authorities. If you nevertheless still want to apply for a change of use of the garage, you must make a number of preparations.
Which preparations should you make before you apply for a change of use for your garage
In order to convert your garage into a storage space, living space or workshop, you must plan carefully before the actual application for change of use. In doing so, you should consider the following:
- Check the requirements of your local building authority, especially the local parking space regulations and how many parking options are available in your neighbourhood.
- Look around your neighbourhood to see whether anyone has made a change of use on their property. Are there any new buildings or conversions to houses in your immediate vicinity? Talk to the affected homeowners to find out how they proceeded.
- Consider where you want to keep your motor vehicle in future. Can you accommodate it on your property, or are you hoping that the pavement directly in front of your driveway can be regarded as a sufficient parking option?
If after the preparations you are still certain that you will be successful with an application for a change of use for your garage, you can turn to the application process.
Which approval do you need for the conversion?
The exact process for an application for a change of use of a garage varies from federal state to federal state. In addition, the future use of the garage planned by you will play a major role in the building authority’s decision to approve your application or reject it.
It is not always only the scope of the actual conversion work that is of decisive importance, but also the future use of your former garage. Even if you only want to make minor changes, your application for change of use could be rejected because it cannot be reconciled with the parking space regulations.
In addition, not every residential area warmly welcomes new businesses. A workshop could disturb neighbourhood peace, and even an inconspicuous e-commerce warehouse will be affected by complaints if storage in the garage leads to constant coming and going in the street.
In most cases, the local building authority will assume here that renting a commercial property or self-storage as well as full-service storage is more appropriate than a change of use of your garage.
If you are nevertheless still convinced that your application for a change of use of the garage will be successful, you will probably have to submit the following documents to the local building authority:
- Your application for change of use. In many federal states, this is regarded as part of a building permit. As a rule, the form can be downloaded from the website of your local building authority.
- Photos and the plan drawings of your house including the garage as they look in their current condition. If possible, find the original documents that were submitted to the building authority when your house with the garage was built.
- Plan drawings and descriptions of the desired change of use. Commission an architect and/or structural engineer to plan the garage conversion. By making use of professional help, your application may be blessed with greater success.
- Expert reports on the current and future use of energy sources. Note here that with the change of use you may possibly cause a greater load on the electrical grid of your house or even of the entire neighbourhood.
If you feel unsure about applying for the change of use for your garage, or if the paperwork involved is too much for you, you can commission an agency specialised in building applications. However, these do not come free of charge and this further increases the price of your conversion.
What does the change of use from a garage to a storage room cost?
As you can see, your cost estimate for the conversion of your garage will already increase considerably before you can even think about taking down the garage door and starting work.
The costs that you must cover before the actual conversion include:
- Administrative fees for the change of use of your garage (usually between 100 and 1,000 Euro, depending on the federal state and the size of the project)
- Architect’s fee (between 7,500 and 22,500 Euro, depending on the construction sum)
- Structural surveyor fees for, for example, fire protection upgrading, electrical grid, etc. (from 300 Euro per surveyor, depending on the extent of the conversion)
- Possibly parking space compensation payment, if you do not have an alternative parking option for your motor vehicle on your own land and rely on public parking spaces or pavements (between 7,500 and 20,000 Euro, depending on the federal state and the number of parking spaces that you remove with the conversion).
As a rule, you can expect to have to pay around 6,000 Euro before you are allowed to begin work on converting your garage. In many cases, you are not even guaranteed a positive outcome of your application and you receive a deduction, without the slightest chance of recovering the costs you have already paid out.
By comparison, for 6,000 Euro you could rent storage space of the same size as a conventional garage from a full-service storage provider such as BOXIE24 for a period of 2.5 years.
What does the conversion from a garage to a storage room or secondary room cost?
If you are among the fortunate ones whose application for change of use for the garage has been approved, you can begin work. The final costs for the conversion are determined by several factors, including the size of your garage and the scope of the construction work. As a rule, however, you must reckon with the following expenses for your new storage room:
- Removal of the garage door and bricking up the opening. Here the price is between 60 and 90 Euro per m², depending on your location.
- Installation of window(s). Building law prescribes that you must take into account a minimum light area of 1/8 to 1/10 of the floor area of the room. Calculate about 800 Euro per window.
- Insulation of the garage. Even if you want to use the garage space as a simple storage room, the walls, the floor and the ceiling must be insulated. After all, you want to store your belongings safely against moisture and cold. Assume at least 120 EUR per m² up to 200 EUR per m² for the insulation work including materials.
- Floor covering (screed). The price for building up and levelling the floor depends on the materials chosen by you, but generally starts at about 50 Euro per m².
- Electrical supply. Even if your garage is already connected to the electrical grid of your house, you will probably have to arrange further electrical work. The hourly wage of a professionally trained electrician is at least 60 Euro per hour, plus materials such as sockets, cables and lighting.
- Water line. Access to water in your storage room could prove useful, but you must assume that a plumber will initially charge at least 75 Euro per hour for the work. Added to this are material costs for pipes, washbasins and fittings.
- Building supervision/additional expenses arise because your local building authority will probably send an expert who will check that you adhere to the agreed conversion plan. A visit by the building supervision costs between 200 and 300 Euro depending on your local building authority.
Initially, you must expect that the conversion of your garage into a storage room or a secondary room will cost at least 800 Euro per m², depending on how much you can contribute yourself through your own work.
Is a change of use for the garage into a storage room worthwhile?
As you have probably already realised, the change of use and the conversion of your garage into a storage room require not only a well-filled wallet, but also a great deal of time and strong nerves.
Please also note that after the conversion some tax changes and extra expenses will come upon your household, because your former garage will now be assigned to the living space. This also increases the value of your house and the living area, which can considerably affect the annual property tax and income tax.
Before you rush into the work for the change of use of your garage, you should perhaps consider alternatives. Instead of investing tens of thousands of Euros in a conversion of your garage because you are running out of space, you could store your belongings much more cheaply in self-storage or full-service storage such as BOXIE24.
Not only do you save time, money and effort with this, but unlike your garage you can scale the use here exactly according to need. At the same time, professional storage space providers offer fully climate-controlled storage rooms that protect your belongings against environmental influences and moisture, as well as round-the-clock monitoring, insurance cover and, in the case of full-service storage, even professional storage management.
