Should I extend house?

[pawpatrollerr]

Do you regret not extending your house?

We live in a 3 bedroom house, DD4 and DS5 and DH.
I feel our house is big enough, we have a utility room, downstairs toilet, reception room, then a kitchen/living/diner.

DH previously spoke about doing a double storey extension giving us a master with en-suite, making it a 4 bedroom house.

personally I don’t think downstairs needs to be bigger but I wonder as the kids become teens will I regret not extending and having my own en-suite?

tia

We extended our house and the plans were 2 storey to extend the smallest bedroom and add an ensuite. We only did the ground floor in the end, I haven't regretted it for 10 years but am starting to now.

Often an extension makes the upstairs layout awkward, will you have to lose a bit of a bedroom to extend the landing to the new bedroom?

Consider a loft conversion if you're happy with downstairs. I think we will go that route. But on the whole if you will have a decent layout and won't lose the garden I'd probably extend.

Thanks, garden is big enough so I don’t mind losing some but I suppose it’s the cost that concerns me as it would mean remortgaging and I’m definitely the more frugal than DH. I see the appeal of an en-suite when the kids are older, at the moment the kids are in an out of our room and I don’t really care about privacy but obviously that might change for all of us as they grow older.

we spoke to an architect a few years ago and they said an attic room would be small but we never discussed a gable end loft conversion which I think might be a possibility and give extra space

It's worth thinking what you'd do with the additional downstairs space too. We added a playroom off the living room and an office, both very useful!

And yes the funding. Imo I'd be happy adding to the mortgage because you're also increasing the value of the house, you're basically buying a bigger house. But I'd want to feel it was affordable and there'd still be spare for savings and emergencies.

Look into the prices, building work has gone up so much since we had ours done.

If you like where you live then yes I would. It'll give you space for an office at home, some space for the kids to have as their own with their friends as they are older - and a playroom now. I love having an ensuite - teenagers spend ours in the bathroom.

At least do the sums. Extensions are stupidly expensive now - but it'll add value. You'll also gain a guest room.

I decided not to extend my former home because I knew I would want to move at some point. I never regretted it as I think it would have been an over-development of the house and ruined the layout due to building regulations dictating that the stairs would have needed to be boxed in etc.

I've extended my current home (a bungalow, extended to the rear to create a larger kitchen / diner and more open plan) and, despite the massive cost, I don't regret that decision either as I plan to stay here long term and the layout suits my lifestyle and has improved the property significantly.

So it depends on your circumstances. But to echo a previous poster, the costs of building work are extremely high these days, good builders are hard to find, and the disruption can be immense (you may need to rent somewhere else while the work is happening). Moving house might end up being easier and cheaper. Would the added value to the property offset the costs? Possibly, but who knows what will happen to the housing market?

Also don't forget that eventually your children will move out, and you may want to downsize at some point.