Extention wont add value: bit depressed

[ShortLass]

As the possibility of starting my long-dreamed-of project gets startlingly nearer, I invited a local estate agent round to value the house and ask her whether it was worth doing, financially.

She said that the extension won't add value and I got the impression that she thought it might reduce the value . Bizarrely, she seemed to think that some of the things which I don't like about the house and want to fix are actually assets and would attract a potential buyer.

She said, "oh, this is a big kitchen" (you can't get a table in it) and "it's good that it's at the front, people like that" (I hate that it's at the north-facing front looking out onto block paving and parked cars). She said, "the dining area's really nice, people will like that" (people tend not to use it and it ends up being a bit of a wasted space). "The archway separating it from the lounge is really good" (hate the arch, it looks so old-fashioned and cuts down light from the back).

I wanted to chop off the front of the kitchen to turn it into a utility room, have the kitchen more in the dining area. Then the dining table will go in the nice bit at the back and extend the lounge into the unusable bit of the garden at the side. Lots of people like this idea, but the estate agent thought the lounge is already big and this wouldn't add anything. Bringing the dining area out to the back would effectively get rid of the dining room. Adding a utility room would, she thought, make it look like the property had two kitchens.

The reason I asked her round was because the budget was getting out of control and I needed a reality check. She did that for me -- and then some. She got me to see it from the perspective of a buyer not of someone who is living there. Now, my plan is to live there. But I really need to be careful, if borrowing a lot of money to do this project, that I don't significantly increase my debt on something that is worth no more than when I started.

Bit depressed now. I was in the house today (it's empty after tenants were there, so it's looking very tired) and didn't feel I wanted to move back in anymore.
(pix are existing downstairs layout and proposed)

I think you have to bear in mind that it's the estate agent's job to sell houses, not to encourage people to extend so they stay put for another 20 years.

She knows your house isn't suiting you as it is. She knows you want something different. If she puts you off extending then you might put your house up for sale with her and buy a different one through her. She is not impartial in her advice.

I'd do what Ruby said. I'd also think about why the estate agent was there - they have an interest in you moving and not extending - I've had similar advice which turned out to be wrong.

I'd copy Ruby's as well. You can have units along the dividing wall between kitchen and utility and make the door in the same style as the kitchen units to create a seamless effect.

I think you need Ruby's plan, except change the utility into a snug tv area (open to the kitchen diner?)
Then have the utility as per the red mark on minipie's plan, if it's big enough.
That puts a small utility straight off the kitchen at the side. Or if it's small you could have it as a larder.

Another vote for a combination of Ruby and Mini. If it's possible to extend back past the we, that would be a great place for a utility, especially if you can arrange the kitchen layout so that you can go from the garden to the utility without disrupting cooking and food prep.

Of course, we don't know how big your garden is, or where the boundaries are, but I'm assuming you're planning to extend up to the boundary. If you could leave a path so you had direct external access to s small utility, even better for hanging out washing, taking off DC's dirty shoes/clothes, washing out garden stuff, etc.

I would hate one open-plan space; I don't really like open-plan at all. A large utility is wasted - you need to be able to fit machines in there, at a minimum, plus the boiler if the alternative is having the boiler in the kitchen or a bedroom, and ideally also a practical sink, but anything else is a luxury and should be storage...

"Past the w.c."

Your planned utility room is too big for the property. Why don't you create a very large kitchen/dining room where the existing kitchen and dining room are, and a separate sitting room? Put your washing machine and tumble dryer in a stack inside a cupboard in the kitchen.

Agree with many others, your house is too small for the utility of that size. Ruby's plan is great but would take users point re other recpti N space/ working area/snug.

I would not purchase based upon your plan. But how good is this site to get so many thoughts before spending!

OP I don't understand why you are so depressed! This is great - you made a very wise move getting the EA in before commencing the work. You have a great opportunity now to rethink things and look at alternatives. Have other houses in your street extended? Can you find out what way they did it?

Keep your chin up, try and see this as positive :-)

I agree that Ruby's idea is spot on. I can see that it would add value as well as you'd create what people value these days - great open area with the kitchen at the back, a separate room at the front and a utility too. I agree with the EA about your original idea.

Agree with Ruby's plan. Original plan would have meant a very dark kitchen area.