Borrowing 65k for an extension - good idea?

[twiglet123]

Really not sure whether to go ahead with an extension on our home or not?

House is worth approx £520000 and we have £290000 remaining on the mortgage to be paid over the next 20 years (currently paying £1300/month).
To fund the extension we would have to borrow an extra £65k on the mortgage. We have 4K of saving but I am keen to keep hold of that for car bills etc.

Is borrowing that much extra a good idea? I was made redundant due to Covid but husband has a steady job and income.

I wouldn't in the current climate but I guess it depends how secure your husband's job is etc, what your outgoings are . In the current climate the last thing I would do ids add to an already large mortgage, I wouldn't be able to asleep at night ! We have just had an extension which was a similar amount to the one you are considering. Even with the best planning it cost even more than expected and still isn't finished a year later so allow for extras too. We had no current mortgage and paid for the extension form an inheritance, we still have four dependent kids. Everyone's situation is different.

I would hold back for a few months before rushing into anything. Also if the extension would make your house the dearest on the road I'd think again. And previous poster is right about extra costs.

Hmmmm yes I’ve heard of costs escalating on these things. Never done one before. Also this probably isn’t our forever home and we would plan on staying another 4-5 years then moving. I’m also reluctant to take on more debt - we’ve just spent years paying off 20k of credit card debt (nightmare) and I don’t want to go through anything like that again.
Also have 2 young DC’s who are not in the primary years that are allowed to return to school so could be homeschooling for quite some time yet. Don’t particularly fancy doing that in a building site!

Sorry to say I think you should build up your savings as 4k isn't much, most people reccomend having 6 months wages easily accessible just in case of job loss etc. Also lenders are becoming increasingly strict on affordability and you may well not be able to borrow any more if you have been made redundant (v sorry to hear this).

If you do go ahead I'd recommend allowing for at least a 10-15 % contingency fund as builds always cost more than you initially plan to spend.

I agree with the previous post. 4K in savings is barely anything when your mortgage is that much a month already and you have children. I’d concentrate on increasing your savings before borrowing more

As the previous posters said, I personally wouldn’t do it. As you’ll be moving in a few years time and with all these uncertainties , trying to maximise the current space you have would and save as much as you can would be my priority before taking on more debts.

Thank you all - I agree with you. Need to have a chat with the husband as he is super keen. I don’t think it’s sensible at the moment.

Wow - my initial thought was that £65k is a lot of money for an extension on a £500k house!

But I guess I don't know much. It does sound like a lot of debt when you already have a big mortgage.

I wouldn’t if you plan to move soonish. Imagine if it took over a year like PP and then you’d be moving just a bit after that. Seems like a lot of disruption.

No way in hell would I take on £65K of debt on top of the mortgage, with a paltry £4K in savings. Doesn’t sound like you learned anything from having to pay of £20K of debt.

Will the extension be transformative or just nice to have? Mine was transformative and I've never regretted it.

Why would you even consider extending to the tune of £65k+ when you're planning to move in 4/5 years?

Ours has been transformative really too, lovely big kitchen, loads of cupboard space, a pool table to keep dh happy and a home office, patio etc.

Absolutely not !

• you have a huge mortgage already
• took you years to pay off 20k debt on 2 salaries
• you're one salary down now
• you're planning on moving soon anyway
• you have hardly any savings

I think you need to sit down and have an honest look at your finances and do dome planning for the future.