What's the average mortgage outside London??

[Amazonmulu]

We are looking to either extend our current house or move as the lovely little house we are in is bursting at the seams. I bought it original while single and now it's also home to DH, DD 11w, and two cats.

An extension would cost £65k-£85k making our mortgage £225k but a new bigger house in a similar or marginally better area would be about the same. I hate the idea of any more debt and I guess I'm looking to see how much people do borrow for a mortgage? We live in South Yorkshire so prices of houses are low compared to London.

Extending is always cheaper than moving didn't all the duties and fees etc
HOWEVER dont do what we did, which is extend a house in an area we didn't really like so we ended up moving 4 years later anyway.
If you like the area and the house then extending is a good plan.

I think asking for an average is a bit silly. A lot of MNetters are dong the hard yards and are fully extended with children and heavy expenses all round.

Average mortgage for couple in the North, in their mid 30s, with children under 10 would be better.

I don't know OP. All I know is that appearances count for nothing.

Are you including the costs of moving I your calculations btw and have you had a professional before and after the work valuation done on the present house. If £75k of extension adds £100k to the value it's a no brainer; if it only adds £40k it's equally a no brainer.

We are having a valuation done tomorrow so will ask about before and after prices!

Though in truth we started down the extension route as we love the area and maybe don't expect to recoup the full cost.

Having said that we bought 1/2013 £215k and house was valued last year at £255k and the semi next door is on the market for £295k....

How much people borrow is only useful to know if looked at alongside income. We are in the north, mid 30's with 3 children. We have an Income totalling £43k and our mortgage is £80k on a house worth about £280k as we have lots of equity due to buying before house prices went crazy.
Our neighbour extended and spent £70k on the extension and it only added £50k in value. In their shoes I would have moved house and saved myself from the hassle and mess of building an extension (and saved myself £20k).