To ask what people pay for loft extensions

[gotroundtoit]

We are looking at having a loft extension done and planning permission has been granted. We've had a couple of quotes in which are higher than anticipated. We live in a mid-terrace in a suburb on the outskirts of london, within m25. We will be having a bedroom with a dormer and an ensuite. What have others paid for similar and did you haggle at all?

Same layout and work as yours, mid terrace in Milton Keynes, 35k but that didn't include decorating as we're doing that ourselves. That was pretty much the lowest quote, we had some at up to 45k.

Following I am interested too I also heard from 25 to 45

We'd also paid 3k before that to get drawings done by an architect, so that price also wasn't part of the overall cost

Wow round here in terraced housing all loft extensions look pretty samey what would architect be doing and does everyone need permission!

45k is what we're about to pay for a dormer with 2 bedrooms and a shower room. It is a hip to gable conversion so is more expensive. We're just inside the m25 too. We had cheaper quotes from builders but decided to pay a bit more for someone who does loft conversions a lot and has lots of good reviews.

We didn't need permission but we're in a bungalow. Our plans were done separately by an architect as we also did a large extension downstairs and did all the plans and building control together.

Architects are to ensure that the extra weight and load going on the top of your house doesn't affect your neighbours. Arguably more important for terraces!

And we didn't need formal planning permission as they usually fall under permitted development, but it's still worth geting planning approval to avoid future issues.

50k for 2 beds and a bathroom in the loft in a mid terrace in zone 5 but that budget covered the decorating, all the bathroom stuff, fitted wardrobes etc

£32 plus vat (I think) for similar in zone 5. No decorating though and had to pay extra for surveyors to sort out party wall dispute. Happy to recommend the company and post pics if you want me to.

Architects don't usually work out loadings that is the role of a structural engineer. An SE may be appointed by the Architects but they are different roles.

its a structual engineer you need not an arcitect

We had a loft extension a few years ago and it was around £40k. No planning permission needed as we weren't changing the roofline - Velux windows not dormers. Bedroom and bathroom up there, we had to factor in additional costs like changing escape route doors to fire doors (and we chose a more expensive door not the cheapest option) and things like carpeting the new rooms.

Around £40k plus bathroom fixtures and fittings, carpet, decorating.
London a couple of years ago.
Build prices are going up though.
Our architect was also a structural engineer.

60k in a detached house in South East, including ensuite, 11 (I know) windows, decoration. It is lovely.

Around £35k plus bathroom fitting s and decoration for a large bedroom and en suite full width dormer with Juliette balcony. We are up north. Some of the best money we ever spent.
One thing we were unhappy with was that due to the position of the plumbing we ended up with a macerator fitted. This is worth exploring early on to ensure the bathroom is planned for the side that the existing soil pipe is on. We used a large specialist company who did everything including structural engineer calculations.

We're up north but paid about £40k total that was including bathroom fixtures and fittings and decoration. Large ensuite bedroom.

Enquire asap about what height the dormer will be. In our case it would be less than 6ft at the highest point so we ended up having to
Lower the ceilings downstairs, a massive faff and expense (we left the country while they did it!), but was fine in the end, our ceilings are generally very high and we don't notice 9 or so less inches upstairs.

We had a rough quote from a specialist company a couple of months ago. We're in a North London suburb, in an Edwardian terrace and would have needed planning permission. We were really limited with what we could do because we're in a conservation area, so decided the projected cost (ballpark was £45k) wasn't worth it for just one relatively small room.

Similar house/location to you, £40k plus carpets and bathroom fittings. We also had to fit a sprinkler downstairs because we didn't have a clear fire path to the front door (living space is open plan)

A little tip from a friend of mine who has the cheek of the devil.

Knock on houses and ask to see their extension - then ask how much the plans were, then offer them half the money for a copy. Works every time and she saves a couple of grand.

Thanks everyone. Ours has come in just under £60k + vat for the cheapest - one was almost £100k! Would anyone mind messaging me cheaper companies?!

Also, did anyone negotiate on price and what sort of percentage did you get knocked off? Thanks again.

Watching with interest. We're thinking if this in the future up north. Staircase already in place as half the loft was done as a bedroom in the original build (Edwardian end terrace). It would be putting in a dormer to the other side of the walk in loft and adding a small bathroom. Hoping it would be under 20k as staircase and access already in place. I may well be deluded though.

We're in a south London borough and mid build now - it's costing us £40k not inc VAT, bathroom suite or decorating, but does include a new combi boiler. We're having a dormer fitted to make a large en-suite bedroom to escape the children.
Definitely get the Party Wall matters sorted, as you might need to leave 6 weeks for serving notice and neighbour's reply, but don't bother with paying a surveyor to do the paperwork. We employed a surveyor to carry out a conditions survey and report, which was much cheaper. They will then come back after the work is done to carry out another one, to check nothing has changed. The gov.uk website has some good info on the party wall process, including some template letters.
Good luck and hope you find a trustworthy builder!