Kitchen storage or washing machine?

Definitely storage. I'm a big fan of 'Homes Under the Hammer' and am often horrified how little storage is provided in kitchens when they've been replaced.

Will pipes in the outside building freeze in winter? Or will you be forced to heat the extra building using a costly system?

Can you can only access the outhouse / potential utility room by going outside?
Is there / will there be some sort of heating in there?

I too would prefer to have the extra storage in the kitchen and could live with an external utility room, but it wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea to have to go outside to do the laundry or get things out of the freezer, assuming that you are also planning to put that out there.

If you’re only going to rent this property out, is it worth the expense?

While there’s obviously an argument for more storage in the kitchen, I’m wondering why the Tradespeople are against using the brick outhouse for the appliances. Could it be that there’s insufficient insulation to prevent freezing the pipes, etc. Often, modern freezers don’t cope with being situated in very cold conditions either.

Germanshepherdsmum

If you’re only going to rent this property out, is it worth the expense?

I think it's good to consider tenants needs.

What reason do the tradesmen give, for their no?

If adequate heating and insulation can be supplied to the outhouse, I’d go for the laundry room there, and the extra storage in the kitchen.

We have a similar property so I know the issues with lack of storage in the kitchen. It drives me crazy. I would say that it would be a bonus for potential tenants if the utility option was available.
I look on enviously at property shows on TV with lots of storage.

Don’t forget that you can only offset repairs and maintenance against rental income, not improvements, and what you propose won’t necessarily increase the rental value.

I don’t know how much space you have in the bathroom but maybe space could be found for the washing machine and dryer in a column there by having a shower instead of a bathtub. It would save the problem of traipsing the dirty washing down and the clean up.

Storage comes first for me. Sound as though you can make a lovely utility room in the outbuilding. No listening to the washer and dryer. Bliss.

Grandmadinosaur

We have a similar property so I know the issues with lack of storage in the kitchen. It drives me crazy. I would say that it would be a bonus for potential tenants if the utility option was available.
I look on enviously at property shows on TV with lots of storage.

Yes, the tenants would be very happy.
I watch HUTH and I think some landlords could do more instead for tenants and be content with less profit.
Mamma66, unless there is a good reason not to, I would go for more storage. It's nice that you care.

Well done for giving such consideration to your future tenants, whose home it will be. I really hope more landlords will be prepared to give thought to how people actually live, rather than seeing rental properties as merely a cash cow.

I would definitely go for storage in the kitchen as otherwise it’s unworkable.

I would go for the utility room solution and as you will have electricity points there your tenants could use a fan heater whilst using it if they need to.. Much more time will be spent in the kitchen and it needs to be functional

Yes to the moving the washer and dryer but no to a slim dishwasher.

I agree with the others who say to move the washer and dryer and increase storage, particularly if you are likely to rent to a family. Storage is important - both for gadgets and for food, as people don't shop as often as they used to.

We got a slimline dishwasher when the kitchen was redone. I was unsure as the previous one was full size, but apart from when Mr Dog lies a sieve or something across the plate rack (🙄) it is amply big enough for two. I needed to move it from where the other one had been, and there wasn't room in the part of the kitchen where it had to go. Even if you rent to a family it will be a lot better than not having one, so if that is your only option I would go ahead with that, too.

My mum used to have a wash house with the washing machine, dryer and freezer in it when I was growing up, and from what I remember it worked well, although bringing in the washing when it was snowing wasn't ideal. As with everything, though, you adapt easily enough.

Can you link the two buildings, even with just a covered walkway?

The other thing is there will need to be some heating in the outhouse, just to stop the temperature getting too low out there. Freezers and fridges don't work in very low temperatures, something to do with the compressor fluid.

I really don’t know why you’re thinking of providing a dishwasher in a rental property. You won’t get a penny more in rent and you will be on the other end of the phone whenever it goes wrong.

A rental property is ‘ a box for making money’ why spend so much on a rental? I doubt whether you will get much more in rent to offset your expenditure.
Keep it simple, leave washing machine, Fridge/freezer. Wardrobes for storage.
Normal kitchen cupboards.

I couldn’t agree more. There is no guarantee that tenants will appreciate the lengths you go to or respect your efforts. My feelings are coloured by my Mum’s experiences with my Gran’s home, which she let for a while after Gran died. They were so unspeakably awful (I will only mention excrement smeared on walls) that I would never, ever, be a landlord.

In rebuttal to Oopsadaisy and GSM, if you make the rental a nice, modern comfortable one, you are most likely to charge a bit more and have good tenants. We have an apartment that we rent out, in a good building. We went through an agency to find and vet a tenant, which cost a bit more, but they have access to credit history and references.

You haven't said this is for short term rentals or long term. While I would find space for a washer and dryer, I wouldn't bother with a freezer. Can you find room for a stackable washer and dryer elsewhere; like a bathroom?

My mum's freezer lived in the wash house for years and came to no harm. It was a chest freezer, if that makes a difference? It must have been in the 70s when she got it, and I don't know if things were more or less 'hardy' in those days.

As for not bothering to make the place comfortable for tenants, I agree with CanadianGran. We have only rented once, when we were between houses - the builders were in this one. I had two young children, and needed a washing machine, dryer and dishwasher. It was things like that which attracted me to the place we chose. My daughter rents, and when she and her ex split, she left the house, despite it having her name on the rent book. The landlord was very keen for her to come back if the ex left, as she had been an excellent tenant. Again, she had chosen the house because of the facilities it offered, and only left because of the relationship breakdown. The more you have on offer, the more choice you will have of tenants, and the longer they are likely to stay.

Fridges and freezers now use different cooling systems to the ways they used to work, and the the fluid used doesn't work well at very low temperatures.