From this... to this - anyone fancy doing a thumb-suck cost guess for me?

[Amethyst24]

We're going to be looking to buy in SE London next year, if all goes according to plan. I've sold my 1-bed flat in zone 2, DP's 1-bed is on the market. We have a rough idea how much of a mortgage we'll be able to get, and how much cash we'll have available for renovation. We are currently living in a rented house where we've been for three years, so I am thinking it would make sense to buy a project and stay where we are while it's done.

This is the sort of place I have in mind for us to buy:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45427534.html

And this is more or less what we'd want to end up with:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49307111.html (only a bit nicer)

So we'd be looking at:

• Side extension
  
• New kitchen, downstairs loo, maybe futility room
  
• Ripping out hideous old stuff and making good/carpets etc
  
• Putting in upstairs bathroom in existing bedroom 3
  
• Sorting out garden
  
• Loft extension (although this could wait a while; we don't have children so a third bedroom isn't essential straight away)
  
• Stuff like wiring/damp-proofing that I haven't even begun to consider
  

Would any of you knowledgeable people like to look into your crystal balls and give me an idea?

[WhatKatyDidnt]

I would guess £150k ish but will depend greatly on whether biggies like the roof and windows need attention.

[YouAreMyRain]

£80,000

[Amethyst24]

Thanks both - that's quite a spread! My guesstimate was c.80K - any more thoughts?

[TeddyBee]

80k without a loft conversion. £110k ish with depending in what went in your loft conversion.

[TeddyBee]

That fourth bedroom looks pretty pointless too, especially if its been hived off the original master bedroom.

[burnishedsilver]

I'd guess around £110 all in if you don't go mad making it high spec.

[Riverland]

Might be worth doing a breakdown of costs.

The side extension is the biggest outlay, isn't it.( Loft extension too.)

Sorting out the garden and carpets are relatively small outlays in your scheme.

[paulapantsdown]

why dont you just buy the second house now and avoid a world of hassle?!

[Shockingundercrackers]

I'd guess at 100k. You might be quoted 80, but have the 20 in reserve for all the extra work that always happens on every big project like this.

FWIW I'm basing my punt on the work we did renovating a similar house two years ago.

60k all in got us:

New kitchen (ikea, so cheap)
New bathroom (budget but looks fancy with expensive tiles!)
New central heating
All water pipes replaced (might as well do this when you're replacing a kitchen and a bathroom)
All the walls downstairs skimmed and painted
Floorboards mended, some replaced and sanded
Room in the roof (not a full attic conversion)
2 new Velux windows
Repointing some of the brick work
New front door (sounds cheap, isn't!)
Rewiring
Opening out a couple of fireplaces and restoring original Victorian fire surrounds
Landscaping the garden

Everyone we showed the place to (including a friend who's a builder) was gobsmaked we got the work done so cheap.

[Amethyst24]

Thanks all.

Teddy, agree re 4th bedroom, I forgot to mention that we wouldn't want that.

Paula, it's hypothetical as we can't make an offer on anything right now, but the second house is in a much worse area and IMO v overpriced for what it is.

[TooSpotty]

I think 100k to get all that done in SE London is pretty unrealistic. I am in a slightly posher bit of SE London and the going cost for a full side return round here is 60k and up.

[WhatKatyDidnt]

Yep. I was thinking £35k loft, £50k extension, £60k for the rest. There are so many variables. Having recently been through a refurb I'd say don't do ittry and buy somewhere that's been well maintained even if the decor is dated.

[msfreud]

I'm in the middle of a much smaller refurb project and everything costs more than I had expected plus lots of unexpected things have needed to be done. You'll probably end up plastering throughout, getting a new boiler, your floorboards might not be good enough to sand and varnish and will need replacing etc.

Lewisham might be more fashionable but having moved from Lewisham to Plumstead (very near Woolwich) this year I much prefer SE18.

[Amethyst24]

Msfreud, that's really interesting. We have looked extensively at Plumstead (we're in Greenwich now) but I just can't quite face it. It seems that one would need a car to live there, there are no nice bars and restaurants or even decent shops within walking distance, and not having children, we aren't bothered by the schools, which apparently are surprisingly good. Where are you and how are you finding it?

The problem with moving into somewhere that's recently been "done" is that it's so unlikely to have been done to our taste, and it seems mad to pay someone else's added value, then either live with it being not right, or rip it out and redo.

[msfreud]

I'm on a road just off Plumstead Common (in effect between the High St and the Common) and don't have a car. The station is a 15 minute walk which is fine for me, and there are buses if I prefer to walk less.

I get my weekly shop from Ocado and organic fruit/veg box from Abel & Cole, but there is a small Tesco and a Co-op on the High St and another Co-op on top of the Common for little top up shops, along with many independents and local gems like Expo International that bakes their own bread three times a day. And Woolwich of course has the huge Tesco and things like Boots, TK Maxx etc.

I don't do bars anyway so it's not an issue for me, and I didn't have any nice restaurants within walking distance in Lewisham either (I used to live about 3 minutes from the Brookbank Rd house you have linked to, by the way!). Woolwich has a couple of new gastro pubs and an Eritrean restaurant Blue Nile just got chosen London's best restaurant by Time Out. In Plumstead I have a couple of great take aways and the pub The Old Mill has really good food cooked from scratch by their own chef and a selection of beers from small breweries.

The biggest change from Lewisham is just how friendly my neighbours are! I already know at least 5 sets of neighbours and everyone helps each other out (taking in parcels, putting bins back into front gardens, feeding each others cats etc.). In Lewisham I was lucky if people living next door said hello after four years of living there. I think it helps that most of my current neighbours have lived here for a long time, the couple next door for 45 years! So there is more of a community spirit. My Lewisham neighbours were mostly renting or living in their first property and moved away soon.

SE18 is definitely on the up, though, and especially Woolwich side has had a lot of regeneration money put into it and new businesses opening (i.e. some naice cafes...) But of course it depends on what you want. If you're used to Greenwich town centre, Lewisham or Woolwich/Plumstead will be a big change.

[TooSpotty]

I showed your photos to my builder. He reckons 80k plus contingency for the building work. That leaves all the trades to pay. Our building cost was around half our total cost including fixtures and fittings.

[Sunnyshores]

£100k for something basic and not high end (exc loft conversion). I would imagine a few upgrades, better quality, a few unforeseen problems and £150k is what you'd need to have available.

[Apatite1]

Budget £750 per sqm for all existing floor space and £1500 per sqm for any new floor space, then add 20% VAT. We are extending by 100 sqm so it will cost ££££. This doesn't include cost of kitchen, bathroom fixtures, garden landscaping etc. It's very expensive but we've budgeted much more realistically than when we first started on this journey! We are still in the early stages. God knows what the final bill will be!

[Amethyst24]

Thanks again for all the helpful responses.

Msfreud, I know what you mean, and I do agree that the area is on the up - I can picture the roads around Plumstead Common becoming like Clapham.... in ten years. I'm just struggling a bit to imagine us living there as it is now, although with the prices of gorgeous Victorian houses being as low as they are, 'tis tempting.

So if the cost of the extension (say 10 sqm) would be £2K/sqm, where does the rest of the cost actually come from? Obviously biggies like windows, the kitchen, the roof if that needs doing - but what else? Rewiring? Damp-proofing? Or does it all just mount up and up?

[TooSpotty]

It all just mounts. Plastering, tiling, plumbing, painting, chippies, skips (£225 each here - we've had 12), electricians, kitchen fitters...

If I ever do anything like this again, I will have a MUCH better spreadsheet.