Loft conversions and house prices

[rebecklet]

Hi

If everything goes to plan, in the next 2 years we should finally have enough deposit to purchase our first house :)

Our issue, is that our preferred area has lots of 2 bed traditional stone terraces (it's in Lancashire, we are currently in London). We would ideally like a 3 bedroom and most of the 3 beds in our price range are 2 beds with a loft conversion.

I am inclined to buy a house that needs refurbishment so that we can choose our own fixtures and fittings but I'm not sure about doing a loft conversion. Roughly how much would it cost to convert a loft in a traditional terrace? Would we save money by buying an unconverted house and having someone do it to our specification or is it SO much easier to go for one that has already been done?

There seems to a difference of around 20K+ in the cost, currently on the market and I'm not sure where I heard it but I seem to have a figure of 40K in my mind for a loft conversion, this would make it a no-brainer (if it is right), go for one ready done. What would you do?

"Roughly how much would it cost to convert a loft in a traditional terrace?"

We're doing ours at the moment, and including VAT, building regs and decoration it's going to cost about £35K. We're in the SE though, in a very desirable location, and will make that back instantly in increased value of the house. I would have thought that in this market, a loft conversion in Lancashire isn't worth doing (FWIW I also own a house I can't sell in Yorkshire, and have wasted all the money I spent converting the basement because it's lost 25% of its market value).

It depends on how you feel about the house and whether you want to stay there. We have 3 bed semi, 2 good sized bedrooms and one smaller. Having twins made us think about extensions since they are b/g and the 3rd room is quite a bit smaller. A conversion was by far the most cost effective way for us to get another bedroom.
We had a loft conversion done in 2010. It was £33k for the basics ie building and regs (lower VAT helped). We spent about another £10k on furnishings, tiling etc because we were given it.
You also need to think of where the stairs will go and how much room they take up. The also has to be a landing at the top to conform with regs here at least. That was my mistake ;)
Some roofs are easier to convert than others, depending on how the original rafters were put in too.