Price of loft conversion , 100k to 150k ???

[tutumax]

Hello Everyone. We just bought a 1950s house and looking to do loft conversion and rear extension. Discussed with architect and was shocked to know that loft conversion will easily cost us between 100k to 150k for approx. 80 sqm We are on M25 SE.

Is this correct estimation? We have a budget of 300k, if the loft conversation costa 150k, we won’t have enough left for rear extension and remodelling of the whole house!

Thanks for your advice!

Oooh, well spotted crumbelina - I hadn't realised it was such a big area! In that case, maybe it's not such a huge price after all..

Just had ours done a couple of months ago. Bog standard 3 bed 1930s semi. Cost £43k for one bed, ensuite, dormer and new roof. Plus a bit extra on wardrobes, tiling etc. We are in London suburbs.
Why do you need an architect? Just go straight to a reputable loft conversion company.

When we did a whole house renovation and extension the architect said we'd probably be better off going with a loft conversion company than her for the attic as unlike the rest of the house she wasn't really adding value and we didn't want/need anything unusual or difficult to design. So we did that and it came in at about £50k including decoration, flooring, bathroom and new roof (West London.)

Thank you Crumbelina
Good question regarding the size! The first floor of our house is approx. 118sqm. I saw a house with same size first floor got a loft of 80sqm so
I estimated ours to be 80sqm too.
Am I silly to estimate this way

I don’t think the cost sounds mad. 80sq m is more than some 3-bed houses and 3-4 times the loft size of a bog standard family home (like a period terrace or semi). When you take the sq footage into consideration, then 100k doesn’t seem outrageous at all.

I know 300k sounds like tons of money but for a full refurb of a large house + extension + loft with architect managing it, it actually isn’t that much. I’d say doable if you shop around, though.

Your sq footage estimates sound about right.

Hi LadyFarnborough
We are doing the whole house remodeling and renovation. Never thought about doing loft separately! Might be a way. Would you mind to PM me your builders contact details? Thx!

We're in a 1920s semi and just paid £45k for 2 bedrooms and a bathroom including lowering the ceilings and refitting the 1st floor bathroom, but not the bathroom throom goods.

In the north west though!

Thank you JoJoSM2!
Then I understand. Yes the house does need lot of work...... as per my understandin architect can help us save money with their professional knowledge and skills

Thanks themagicamulet
Yes we will try loft specialist!
Do you mind to advise how did you sort out the planning permission? Did Loft company help you with then planning for loft and
Your architect did the rest? In one application or two?

Thank you Everythingsr0sie

We spaced it out in the end and did the loft conversion a couple of years later, which suited us financially at the time. Planning permission not needed as it was within permitted development, but the loft company did the whole thing as a package - drawings, submission to the council plus organising the building regs.

That's absolutely outrageous.. in my opinion.. but my house is worth less than your budget

We’re in the NW and had the loft of our 1920s semi converted earlier this year. Even with a large double bedroom, lovely bespoke storage, and a fairly snazzy en suite we only spent 55K, so that estimate sounds crazy to me.

hi we are half way through (hopefully) our loft conversion; we have used a specialist loft company that works nationally, and then a different builder for extension and other work. Loft is around £45k plus decorating, fittings. Its a v big space - having bedroom, dressing room, and large ensuite. Full dormer.

oh should add - done under permitted dev; loft company sorted out that, plans, building regs, etc. Also have been surprisingly good about liaising with our builders, bathroom people etc so that everything works together (like the plumbing and pump as we need new main bathroom too - this house needs every single thing doing and is a money pit!)

I'd just carry on with the architect to get whatever approvals you might need.
I suppose they can save you money if they design things that are cheap to build. They might also save you money by designing well so that stupid things don't come up halfway through the project. You just need to make sure they don't get carried away. Architects can sometimes get carried away designing funky stuff that looks good but doubles the costs.

I think my house is probably very similar in size to yours and costs do add up like crazy due to the sheer space and number of rooms and bathrooms etc.

Thanks themagicamulet glad to hear that it all worked out well for you.
Wish we will have the luck tooooo

Thanks MotherofPearl
Would you mind to tell me The size of the whole loft you have done?

Thanks stringchild
Same here, our house also needs total remodeling and refurbishment. We thought we have enough budget in the beginning. Now feel like we can only do half of what we wanted

Anyway, would you mind to PM me the loft company you used, seems a good idea?
Thanks!

Ours was 37 k for two bedrooms and a bathroom but we opted for new boiler, roof and with extras and decoration came in at £48k. Really pleased with it, all done no fuss in 7 weeks. Didn’t need a separate architect and no issues with roof line

It sounds like it's quite a big conversion so probably not comparable to many people's small terrace conversions (the easiest, most common & cheapest LC's)
Victorian Terraces roof shapes tend to lend themselves to LCs with good pitches and clearances - people then assume that all roofs will be easy to convert.
The size, shape, pitch, clearances, roof timbers, eaves details etc can make it more expensive as well as what you want up there, access and finish.
I'm an architect but I always get builders to quote on costs as they can vary so much and costs are not my specialty and I can only give very rough figures and I always stress this. Sometimes it comes down to spec - I have clients at the moment who want a particular door in their extension that costs £10k alone but in your case it sounds like size is your expense.

I don't do enough loft conversions to have portfolio of work to say well this cost x but your architect might and this may be where they got there figures from

We paid less than £40k for a standard 3 bed house loft conversion in SE London. I'd suggest getting in some loft conversion companies to quote - we found that much more cost effective than using an architect and trying to project manage builders.

Tutu, I’ll have to check with DP - it’s the kind of info I never remember!