HOME owners are turning their garages into living spaces as part of a renovation revolution in large part forced by the rental crisis.
As material costs level out and more owners prepare to borrow despite high interest rates, renovations are edging back into vogue following a low interest rate and HomeBuilder grant boom.
Kitchen and outdoor space upgrades as well as garage overhauls are some of the trends builders are seeing in 2023.
GBC Homes owner, John Howarth, told GC&M News he had recently completed a number of renovations in the local area with popular renovation trends including installing extra bathrooms and upgrading the kitchen and outdoor areas.
“People are doing a variety of renovations whether that be to bathrooms, kitchens, or laundries or outdoor upgrades like entertainment areas, decks, patios, pergolas,” he said.
“Another thing that has seemed to become more prevalent over the last few years, is more people looking to convert their double garages back into living space. “This is because some have adult children that have nowhere to live because of the rental crisis and all that sort of stuff, plus also granny flats are becoming popular again.”
Glasshouse Chamber of Commerce president and owner of Hazelden Realty, Tamara Hazelden, said extra and high quality bathrooms were a must for growing families.
“In a family home nowadays, generally you’ve got anywhere from two to four children, so having a second toilet is pretty crucial,” she said.
“The three bedrooms aspect doesn’t matter too much, but it’s about having that second bathroom space and room for kids to run.”
“For older home owners, they are more focused on their comfort, so that’s having a kitchen that works practically for their retirement, having that patio area so they can entertain their families and the space to have big Christmas feasts.”
She said there was greater local confidence to build and renovate, which is leading to most local tradies being booked out weeks or months in advance.
“Building a new dwelling has a lower confidence rate because of the costs of materials in general, but there’s still strong confidence in renovations because people are still seeing capital rising from renovating,” Tamara said.
“There’s more renovations happening where people are extending on their homes because it is often a much cheaper option than to purchase land and build property.
John said the strong population growth into the hinterland was also driving demand.
“There are still 1000 people moving to Southeast Queensland a week which has generated a lot of work, and they are coming from all over Australia as well as other parts of the world,” he said.
Tamara added that homes on the lower end of the market – worth up to $650,000 – were being renovated at a faster rate, with owners comfortable that any improvements to their investment would not cause an overcapitalisation.
To read more from this week’s Spring Home and Garden feature, visit https://issuu.com/glasshousecountrynews/docs/spring_home_garden_liftout?fr=sYzM4YzY0OTI4NTc
