Would you take out another mortgage to finance an extension in these circumstances?

[HouseRenoOrNo]

We are thinking of doing a big extension to our house.

Currently, our house has enough bedrooms for everyone, although they are quite small and don't offer a lot of storage or space to put additional storage in.

We have a nice kitchen that fits our household in it adequately, but we struggle for space when we are hosting, which is something we really enjoy doing.

I'm saying all of this because I recognise that we don't need an extension, it's a want. We spend a lot of time in our house and get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

So my question is around the finances.

I'm in my mid 30s and my DH has just turned 40. We have aprx 250k outstanding on our mortgage and 25 years left to pay it off. Household income is aprx 120k.

The planned extension is likely to cost 150k which we would have to take out another mortgage on.

We are done with having kids and have factored in their childcare costs, so no upcoming maternity leaves etc to consider. Our salaries are likely to increase but I don't expect any massive jumps in income over the next few years.

Would you take on another mortgage to finance a house? We don't really have any significant debts beyond our current mortgage, so it feels like a big step to be committing to an extra (likely) £600-850 per month, which is affordable, but is a significant amount of money for a significant amount of time.

Can you take on any of the work yourself ?

When we extended (in 2004) we had a 2 storey side and a single storey rear extension. I was determined that we were only going through the hell (we lived on site throughout) and we were going to get everything we wanted in one hit. The only way to do that was to fit the kitchen and bathroom ourselves, do all the internal painting, tiling and some flooring .

Alternatively you can have less stuff !

(It seems like you want to extend for other people rather than what your immediate family needs).

We aren't particularly handy people, but could definitely do the basics, like painting.

It is guests, but also thinking about space longer term if kids hang about in their 20s or start bringing girlfriends and boyfriends over. I want enough space to accommodate them and for them to always feel welcome.

I do appreciate that it isn't a "need" though.

We've just had plans passed on our extension. We have four kids but the two oldest have to share a bedroom, this will free up a room downstairs for the oldest boy and give us a new kitchen/diner area and a snug and office space for working from home. Current mortgage is 150k and this will cost in around 100k, feels doable, we earn around 100k between us. I'm not looking forward to the building works etc but the benefits will be worth it! Think of it as adding value to your property, an investment.