I couldn't get on the property ladder so turned parents garage into a home for £15k

A man has shared a video of how he turned his parents’ garage into his first home - after learning DIY skills by watching YouTube. Josh Jones, 21, convinced his mum and dad to let him convert the garage attached to their four bed family home into a one-bed apartment - instead of putting down a house deposit.

Alternative to putting down a house deposit

He started the build in January 2023 and took eight months to complete the work himself - completely stripping the garage roof, levelling out the floor, adding drainage, building a kitchen, installing a bathroom and a bedroom. He spent £14,700 on materials, moved into his new abode in May 2024 with his girlfriend and say his parents are "happy for him".

Josh said the hardest part of the project was the drainage. He said: "We had to dig a six-foot deep hole and I dug too far down and broke a pipe that I didn't need to so I had to replace that...it is very complicated."

Renting is ‘ridiculously expensive’

Josh said he will be in the property for the next 10 years due to the state of the rental market.

He said: "Renting is ridiculously expensive and never an option for me as I didn't want to be paying someone else's mortgage. When I told my friends what I was doing, they were gobsmacked - they are super impressed."