Half of motorists with garages never park their car in them

If your garage is so full of junk that you can no longer put your car inside it, you are not alone.

Fifty-three per cent of drivers with garages never park their cars in them.

And 68 per cent of them say it is because they use their garage to store other items. The survey of 2,138 drivers by motoring organisation the RAC found that 30 per cent of those who do not park in their garage say their vehicle is too big to fit through the door.

Simon Williams, of RAC Home Insurance, said: ‘It seems most garages are nothing more than additional storage, perhaps because many houses don’t have enough easily accessible space to store lots of household items.’

A new study shows 53% of drivers with garages never park their cars in them. Some 68% use the space for extra storage, which can mount high among a nation of hoarders 

The motoring group estimates that 11 million UK homeowners have a garage.

However, some 5.7 million of them are not used to secure vehicles, as they were originally designed. 

Instead, things often kept in garages include DIY tools and materials (90 per cent), gardening tools and furniture (74 per cent), bicycles and scooters (55 per cent), wellington boots and other footwear (36 per cent) and camping equipment (24 per cent).

A lack of room to comfortably drive in and out of garages due to their limited size was the second most common reason (39 per cent) for not using them to store cars.

Three out of 10 (30 per cent) motorists who do not keep their car in their garage claimed their vehicle is too big to fit through the door in the first place.

This is becoming an ever increasing issue, given the growing dimensions of the latest cars.

A 2020 study by CarGurus revealed that parking is becoming an increasing struggle for drivers as the size of the latest vehicles have grown dramatically while bay sizes have remained unchanged for half a century.

Car owners are being left with almost no room to squeeze out of their cars in public car parks, which have space sizes that have remained consistent since the 1970s.

Three out of 10 (30%) motorists who do not keep their car in their garage claimed their vehicle is too big to fit through the door in the first place, which is why the park on driveways instead

Three out of 10 (30%) motorists who do not keep their car in their garage claimed their vehicle is too big to fit through the door in the first place, which is why the park on driveways instead

Simon Williams, of RAC Home Insurance, said: 'It seems most garages are nothing more than additional storage, perhaps because many houses don't have enough easily accessible space to store lots of household items.'

Simon Williams, of RAC Home Insurance, said: ‘It seems most garages are nothing more than additional storage, perhaps because many houses don’t have enough easily accessible space to store lots of household items.’ 

A comparison of vehicles on sale at the start of this year and similar cars from 50 years ago shows that some motors have expanded by as much as 55 per cent and big SUVs now taking up almost 90 per cent of a parking space.

Parking guidelines haven’t changed in 50 years, with the requirement for public bays to be 8 feet wide by 16 feet long.

These are the same dimensions for a small UK garage. Today’s Land Rover Range Rover takes up to 86 per cent of this available space, leaving just 21cm of room for drivers to get out.

Medium-size garages often measure in at 9 by 18 feet. The largest – usually attached to older properties or separate from a house – is 10 by 20 feet. 

Incredibly, some 83 per cent of garages are used by the property owner for additional storage.

Among the drivers who said they use a garage for its intended purpose, more than two-thirds say they use it to park the car they drive regularly in - and for three-in-10 of these motorists it’s home to a classic car

Among the drivers who said they use a garage for its intended purpose, more than two-thirds say they use it to park the car they drive regularly in – and for three-in-10 of these motorists it’s home to a classic car

Nearly half (47 per cent) use it as a workshop or DIY space, nine per cent retrofit the space into a home gym or exercise space, while one-in-10 (8 per cent) say they had converted theirs into another room to add extra living space and increase the property’s value.

Among those who actually use their garages for their intended purpose, more than two-thirds (67 per cent) say they use it to park the car they drive regularly in, but for three-in-10 it’s home to a classic car. 

One in ten drivers polled claim they use theirs as a space to work on another car.

Mr Williams added: ‘Our findings show the vast majority of UK garages aren’t used for the purpose they were intended. At best, 40 per cent of those with garages park their cars in them on a regular basis.

‘But in fairness to many people with garages, some just aren’t big enough to get a modern car in, and then there are some that you can drive into but are then too small to comfortably get in and out of your car.

‘With so many items such as bikes, golf clubs, tools and fitness equipment being stored in garages, it’s important every homeowner makes sure they have a good quality home insurance policy in place covering both the building and its contents.’

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