Dilapidated terrace in London (with pics) - how much to completely renovate and extend

[Newhouse76]

We are looking in this part of London and were wondering how much it would cost to bring this property back to life:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73510029.html

We would like to extend out the kitchen, new windoes, boiler, wiring, fit a downstairs WC, and extend the loft

Or would it be better to buy this one as although it needs an extension and loft, the basics seem to be in place?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73140198.html

Ive also attached a link to a property in the next street to give an idea of prices once decorated

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=58048279&sale=4960804&country=england

Budget is up to 750k however I was wondering if renovating would be a more cost effective option

Thank you

[VictoriaBun]

Don't like house No.2. The other than it's decorated in a better way, I can't see the extra £100,000 in it.
Does No.1 need a new roof ? I'd assume it needs a rewire , new kitchen , bathroom, heating etc. Is it damp ? If so possibly back to brickwork and start again. Are you planning to jiggle the layout ?
All these need consideration along with how long to plan to stay ?
Also factor in if you plan to move on whilst the work is done, which tbh is doable but you have to be prepared for it to be a nightmare .

[Newhouse76]

Yes number 1 needs a rewire, new kitchen, bathroom and heating. Its not damp - im unsure about the roof. Internally it would need to be remodelled.
We would be living in abother property whilst renovating this one.

Do you think this would be achievable with a 100-150k budget?

[RedRumTheHorse]

How much are you doing? How much are trades people doing?

[NewHouseNewMe]

The £500k property is truly dilapidated and may struggle to get a mortgage. It looks like there are damp and mould issues, needs rewiring and central heating. Given the mould and damp, I doubt you could live there while the work is ongoing.

The second house looks really nice and you'd definitely be able to live in it.

I'd say it is AT LEAST £100K to renovate the first house to the point you could move in. Hence the second seems a better bet for a family who needs to live there.

[NewHouseNewMe]

Also don't underestimate how hard it is to get tradesmen to do jobs in London. Unless it's a tiny 1-2 hour job for which they get paid a premium, or a huge job which is £££, it's a pain finding and booking reputable people.

[VictoriaBun]

At the end of the day, if that's your budget, you make it doable. It depends on how high end you want your kitchen / bathroom/ Windows etc.
First priorities , roof ( if needs it ) rewire, heating, windows, the re jiggle . Then with the rest of budget kitchen , bathroom , decoration , flooring.
Your budget can be stretched if you can do diy ( obviously not the major, plumbling, electrics )

[Sophoa]

I would say that there’s no point buying the second one as there’s not a lot less to be done. Realistically you need to have access to £200k to get it to the standard you want if the third one is anything to go by and hope that you get some change.

[JoJoSM2]

I think 150k should do it if you shop around and project manage yourself.

House 2 looks tidy but personally, I’d probably want to do almost as much work as house 1, ie extend, new kitchen etc.

Have you done major projects before? House 1 will be a lot of work and stress but at the end of it, you’ll have added a bit of equity + you’ll know it’s done properly and to your liking.

Going off on a tangent - did you spend much time in Isleworth in the plane-flying days? Personally, I wouldn’t be able to cope but neither could I in Richmond.

[monkeyonthetable]

I don't agree that no 2 would be the worst option. There's a lot less to do that no 1, which has been seriously neglected. No1 would keep uncovering expensive structural work - damp, dry rot, wood worm, roofing issues etc. It would be never ending. No 2 looks like that stuff has been sorted out and then they ran out of money to make it nice so finished it with cheap fittings. But it is clean and functional and you could easily live in it while turning it into something like no 3 for around £100-150k.
Love no 3. I'd just buy that and live in it. Trying to make No 1 habitable is my idea of hell.

[SoupDragon]

Looking at Streetview (I'm nosey like that!), it seems to have a new roof which I guess fixed the cause of the staining on the bedroom ceilings.

[PegasusReturns]

A two storey extension on a terrace with no access, where you’re not doing any of the work is going to cost you at least £150k, if you keep your finishes basic, but really the sky’s the limit.

Want crittal windows rather than UPVC sliders add £30k; want a deVol in frame rather than an IKEA off the shelf add €40k.

That’s without considering the rest of the house. You could get a rewire and re plaster done for about £30/40k but will you need a new boiler? (£6/8k) New rads (£1k for basic, £15k+ for fancier models).

DH owns an architect firm, over the past 20 years we’ve renovated our own London terrace (x2) and given countless friends advice. I feel like I now know these figures inside out

[JoJoSM2]

@PegasusReturns

Sounds like prices in prime areas on fully managed projects?

Our house is 4-5 times bigger than the one linked and rewire and plastering didn’t come to anywhere near 30k. A combi boiler for a little terrace would probably be 2k incl labour. Fancier rads wouldn’t be anywhere near 15k - even if extended, the house would only need 10 rads max so maybe 3-4k if you go for lovely column ones rather than the basic ones. Kitchen for a house in that price bracket, could be done for 10k - still F&B’ed fronts and decent appliances. If would be a bit OTT to put deVol in there.

[tara66]

I'd probably buy first house. I think costs can be controlled.

[Mollscroll]

I’d buy the first and take it back to basics. What you want to do do the second house would be hugely disruptive anyway. I’d rather get everything just as I want it.

[Poppingnostopping]

It's not that dilapidated, I was expecting a shell or something! Yes, it needs all the works, so for me it would depend on things like- is there damp, does it require complete rewire, loft is 40 grand surely?

It does have central heating, the rooms are almost liveable, depending on the situation with kids.

[Happydaysforever123]

I'd go for number 1, but you're going to have to keep a tight hold on costs to keep it at 750,000.

[Viviennemary]

I think the second house is a better looking house from the outside. But it does look a bit soulless inside the way it's been done. I think I'd wait to see what else comes up unless you're worried about prices going up especially houses with gardens.

[StylishMummy]

House 2 is a far better option. Particularly because the next door neighbour has done a dormer, so there's precedent.

[Mamette]

A two storey extension on a terrace with no access,

Looks like there’s rear access?

If you prefer the first house I would go for it, OP. We bought a house which was reasonable in condition, but in the end we had to gut it anyway, rewire, re-plumb re-plaster, new everything, and if you’re going to have to do all that you might as well go for the wreck.

[PegasusReturns]

@JoJoSM2 as I said in my post those would be costs if the OP did nothing herself.

IME, builders hate doing terraces - no where to easily dump a skip and access is difficult so all material needs to be barrowed through - it’s labour intensive and therefore more costly on a price per sqm than bigger properties. Plus of course there isn’t the economy of scale on larger projects.

Whilst a deVol might be OTT, unless OP is doing a lot of work herself she’s not going to get a decent kitchen for £10k (inc appliances).

[PegasusReturns]

All that said OP I’d still go for property 1.

I’ve never bought a house that didn’t require a total renovation job - although we always joke how glad we are that DHs job provides the expertise and mine provides the cash

It’s not for the faint hearted, but you end up with exactly what you want.

[nowahousewife]

Another west Londoner here who has done alot of work on several houses over the last 25 years. Without knowing exactly needs doing on house 1 so assuming everything, I'd say you'll get v little change from £200k and not sure if that would include a loft like house no3. (Last time we did a loft was 18 years ago and even then it cost £35k)
Remember also that you have to factor in VAT so £200k in reality is only c£165k
House no 2 still looks like you'd need to do a lot of work although it is habitable and you could do it bit by bit.
Good luck OP

[JoJoSM2]

@PegasusReturns

I’ve used builders for everything including stripping wallpapers or painting etc so no DIY on our part. However, I’ve always used individual trades and coordinated/project managed myself if that’s what you mean by doing work yourself.

[averythinline]

I think i would want to look with a builder or architect for costs as on house 1 putting the stairs in for loft could reduce the bedroom sizes and is there the ceiling height in the loft..

With your budget I think i would look for less of a project..and maybe an EOT .they are both quite narrow terraces at the end of the day..

Is it that part if Isleworth for a reason ?

[Whatthebloodyell]

I don’t reckon that you could get house number one up to the standard of
House number two for
Much less than £250k and a hell of a lot
Of stress. I think if you worked very hard at it you would make some savings but when you factor in your time/energy/stress I don’t think it would be worth it. Getting work done at the moment is a bloody effort. Builders are so busy that it’s hard work even getting them
Out to quote, and then the decent ones are booked up 6 months in advance.