Should we sell up and move or just extend??!!??

[kp78]

I guess we are in a fortunate position, but I'm not sure what to do!

We live in a 3 bed semi in Greater London. It is on a lovely small cul de sac which has both positives and negatives, parking being the main issue which we can overcome by paving the whole front garden.

We are expecting our 2nd child and wanted to extend current house into 4 bed as the 3rd room is literally tiny. We can either convert the loft or extend over the garage. Both of which will cost approx 35/40k, although loft conversion will effectively wipe out the current 3rd bedroom and garage extension will be quite narrow and long.

At the same time we would relocate the kitchen and have a downstairs toilet and utility room and some other maintenance, so we would borrow approx 60k.

Neighbours have already expressed concerns over our plans, mainly as if we go above the garage they might not be able to in the future as they are joint garages, although they have said they don't have the money to do it anyway! I'm already fed up with the neighbour and thought of the mess!

If we decide to move we could get a 4 bed house already converted to what we are looking to do for nearly the same money, but we would spend some equity (luckily we have around 200k) on fee's and stamp duty. We wouldn't have the mess of conversions, but moving house is stressful and I am extra anxious as we ended up homeless for a week on the last move we had!

What would you do?

Having just extended a 3 bed semi to get a 4th bedroom (involved extending downstairs too and lots of rejigging) I'd say you need to be realistic about (1) your budget (I'm not in London and have spent significantly more than the figure you have put in your post) and (2) how hard it is to live through (we are almost done now but have lived with works for 6 months with 3 children and even with amazing builders its been tough).

However, for us, stamp duty and estate agents fees would have been £35k+, we love where we live, neighbours etc and so we've stayed put and extended.

We've also made quite a chunk too (we've added more value than its cost) so financially and practically, it ticked all of the boxes.

Having said that, I'm not sure (having done it) I'd want to do it with a newborn and a toddler, when you have all the other stresses of early parenting to contend with.

Surely someone must own the space above the garage legally? Answering this question might well provide you with the answer to the bigger one!

Have you thought about other solutions to making the 3rd room bigger? I'm having a bay put into an upstairs room, which will provide another metre of space, floor to ceiling. Maybe a chat with an architect might give you a sense of your options without committing £££?

I would sell your house with the planning in place and move. Wouldn't want to go through building work when pregnant or with young DC (again) unless I absolutely had to, plus the risk of falling out with my neighbour would really put me off

I think you can only make the decision based on your personal circumstances.
We extended: we wanted to stay roughtly in this area, that meant up sizing to a non-ex-council house, and for the additional money we had saved we would have ended up with a similar sized if not smaller house and smaller garden. We spent it on an extension that added a bedroom, doubled the kitchen and bathroom and totally renovated the whole house. We're still here 10 years later. You may need detailed plans to asses cost.
If you're already having issues with the neighbours you may need to consider this, even if legally you're totally in the right. You may need to rebuild the garage (foundations) if you planning to have a room put on top, frequently attached garages a not build strongly enough for a second storey.

And PS we did this when second child was a year old, and moved out and rented for 7months so that's another cost to consider.

Thanks everyone, I think even with the few responses my mind is made up to risk moving!

The garage is ours and would need a party wall agreement with the neighbour as his is attached to ours, so I think regardless of his complaints we would get planning permission. However, with the comments about budget esp for @namechange spending more than that and not living in London I am really concerned we won't get what we want or need on the budget we have regardless of the quotes we have! If we can't do the work within that budget it's pointless as we wouldn't make that much on the house!

Moving out isn't an option either, so estate agents are coming to value the house on Wednesday!

Onwards and upwards, lets hope I can sell quickly and get the house I have seen for the price I want (ha ha ha)

Thanks all!