How much to gut this house?

[Sackars]

Dh and I making the move out of London. We are ready to start a family after 7 years of marriage. We are currently living in a one bed flat that we have outgrown.

i am very up for a serious reno. Dh less so.

I am very boring but just really enjoy the warm and cosy look of Neptune, Cotswolds Company et al.

We’ve viewed a house we like but it needs work. It’s actually been maintained well but I’m looking for
that elevated look. So i would really take it right down to the bones

How much do you reckon it would cost to renovate this house? I’m taking medium to high spec.

Dh reckons £250k which no is nowhere near doable. I know it’s a bit of how long is a piece of string type question. I’m hoping for hardwood floors etc but we could be strategic. Buy during and potentially stagger work.

ive attached the look I’d hope to achieve (I know im boring)

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/87208194#/?channel=RES_BUY

What will make a significant difference is whether you want a to extend, a new kitchen, a new bathroom(s) and new windows. I note you say the electrics and plumbing are fine, but if building control get involved they may have other ideas.

The plaster on the walls looks okay to me, could you not just skim the textured ceilings?

Would you do any of the work yourself?

Gutting a house (to me) means going back to brick, we did that with our house. We took down all the internal walls too and rebuilt them, and took down and rebuilt two (dated) extensions.

How about this OP?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/165684047#/?channel=RES_BUY

I’d be fine to just put in a new kitchen and bathroom at first. And then live in it whilst we saved some money but dh wouldn’t

Also looking at it again, whatever flooring you choose will make a significant impact on the budget given it’s a large house and it looks like it all needs to go…

Its lovely, I'm sure £250 000 would be enough to update it a hit.

It’s a great house and it would really suit the ‘Neptune’ aesthetic. You don’t need to gut it. The appeal is all the character it as. Essentially you need new kitchen and bathrooms and new windows. Someone could come in and treat those beams to lighten them and it all needs a paint.

New light carpet would massively elevate it.

I think you could do it for 250k.

Or this one...

5 Bedroom Cottage

4 Bedroom Detached

Right I need to get on with some work now 😂

You can, and some, if you buy used or ex-display. There are beautiful used, high end kitchens around that people rip out just because they fancy a change. Just fitted a very high end kitchen including appliances for under 15k - used but you'd never know it. Same with bathrooms

I reckon to get a kitchen like the one you posted, plus the utility room, including flooring, you’re talking £100k.

The rest of the house, assuming it’s decoration only (so floors, paint/paper, new rads)… £30k? That might be low, it’s a big house. Depends just how much you’re wanting to change. Assuming you’re doing nothing yourself.

Not sure if you’re including soft furnishings in that - window treatments alone could be £10k - again, it’s a big house!

I have no idea what condition or what you’d want to do to the sun room to make it look how you want, so I’m leaving that out of the equation.

Bathrooms… only 2.5 and they’re not huge, you can get a good look for not so much. Say £20k?

Garden is stunning and nothing looks like it’s needed there.

So that’s £160k but we have no idea about electrics, plumbing, boiler... roof!! And the size of the place means any changes are a big cost.

Just seen you want to change the tone of all the wood throughout!!! That would be a big cost all on its own, there’s so much of it.

£200k minimum is my estimate!

That to me is a very straight forward cosmetic decoration. absolutely not a house that needs gutting especially as you say you love the period features.

You could absolutely do it for the money you're saying you will have left over. Just slowly. It sounds like you'd be willing to do that but not your partner so perhaps it isn't the house for you.

We have renovated a few houses. One we called the murder house at first! I have been surprised how easy it is to do so much yourself and if willing to search and hurnt arouns you can get the high end finish for much much less. Also done whilst pregnant and with babies small children. I'd not say it was easy but it's do able and worth it in the end. Just depends what kind of people you are. If you both want easy and move in ready to your tastes then definitely look at a different house.

We have a Nolte kitchen, not the look you’re going for but a similarly ‘high end’ kitchen. That cost £75k 10yrs ago. The last time we did a bathroom was £40k, currently having our 7m x 9m garden landscapes and that’s costing £40k. We had some plastering and decorating done a couple of years ago, 2 bedrooms and the landing, that was about £5k. I think you’d be looking at well over £250k tbh, the cost of labour and materials has gone through the roof.

Agree its a straight forward cosmetic refurb so the prices being quoted here are insane.

There are no period features though, looks like a standard Potton home from the 1980's

You say the electrics are fine, has an electrician checked it? It appears from age of decor etc as though it may be in need of a rewire, and that is ££££ on a house that size.

I don’t think it is a period home though? Not if it was built by current owners, as it says. The beams don’t look structural, just decorative. Still, I think you could achieve the look you want fairly easily, doing a bit a a time while living there. For me, the sun room would have to go!

It’s not period, it says it was built by the owners. It’s a nice home but clearly not old.

sorry, just re read and saw that you said about the self build.

This is stunning. I could be mean about Banbury but I won’t. Adderbury is lovely.

I think there is a tendency for many people to want a champagne look on a baked beans budget. To achieve this, you have to give it time.

Accept that the “Neptune look” might be out of date before you achieve it, and renovate little by little, acquiring new skills as you go - you’ll save £££.

If it really is your forever home, you’ll probably change your mind before you actually finish - but that’s ok: if you get to 15 years in and your ideas have changed, you’ll probably be earning more money and able to make changes faster - we did, and our house 27 years in is far more up to date now than it would have been if we had made the changes we originally wanted all those years ago!

Also, planning changes gradually and on a continuous basis means that your house will never be stuck in a period!

I hate the house, the low ceilings especially. Your house will never scream “expensive” if ceilings are so low. Mine is in much worse conditions but has 4 metres tall ceilings and lots of antiques collected by myself and partners over the years so still looks great. Please please don’t buy it

Is this intended as a forever home? If so, does everything need to be done immediately? We aren’t planning on moving again so have been doing things bit by bit. In the 14 years we’ve been there, we’ve decorated throughout, new bathroom, new kitchen that included knocking through into another room, new windows, new roof. But not all at once!

I agree with this but you could do it even cheaper than 100,000.