Should I borrow £40k for an extension?

[Careermummy]

Hi, I am 40 years old and am considering borrowing £40k extra on my mortgage to add a smallish extension on the back of my house It would put my mortgage at £186k. I earn £60k and it would take my payments from around £700 to £900 PCM.

I live in a townhouse and all of my neighbours have extended as we all feel the ground floors to small. I've recently decided this is my forever house so am thinking I should maximise the space. The upstairs is great and the area is amazing.

My concerns are increasing my mortgage so much when it's just me on the mortgage & also having £200 less a month.

What would you do in my situation? Thanks x

Much better to do it now than later if this really is your forever home. Sounds like you’re very sensible and in a good position. Good luck!

It sounds very affordable for yourself and would bring a lot of enjoyment of your home so I would go for it

Don’t most people borrow to extend?

I would do it. £900 pm is not a huge mortgage, and presumably your income will have yearly increases.

For two adults? You’re house doesn’t sound too small so it sounds like keeping up with the Jones. If you really want to do then start saving for it.

Sounds fine. You can Get a lodger if bf moves put
You cam get a lodger anyway if you need extra cash

Thanks everyone for your input. I decided to do it, I would rather have to potentially make sacrifices in the future if needed then definitely live with regrets/what ifs x

We have a town house and extended for the extra living space about 8 years ago. We have never regretted it.

My advice would be to really think out what you want. I did a lot of sketching out of ideas before we came to a final design decision.

I totally would and I’m glad the OP has said she’s going to go for it.

For those saying save up- can I ask why? The mortgage is affordable at an extra £200 a month and means the OP can make the house work better for her for many years to come. If she saved the same, it would probably take her 15 years to get the money together and buy then it would be more expensive and she wouldn’t have had the benefit for 15 years. There are certain things where I think re-mortgaging makes total sense.

Although our extension has really improved our lives I'd be hesitant about your budget, when we did ours through Home Tales a few years ago they really encouraged us to speak with a few builders and understand the costs fully early on. I know the housing market is always in flux but we also looked at properties in the area too so we'd understand what value we could potentially add.

I would having our extension has transformed our house and enabled us to stay much longer in an area we like....on a purely practical level as you say its now a forever house think about aging needs when planning ur extension... So downstairs loo where the doorsways are wide enough to get a walker in...and maybe a shower too? Or space for one....

Not sure if its been said, but £700 a month mortgage for your income is fairly low, and you're not on your own either - it seems an affordable increase (presuming your fixed rate is not going to jump up in the near future that is?) do you have an idea of the value it would add to your house?