How much approx to completely renovate this place?

[GimbleInTheWabe]

DP, 10mo DS and I are so cramped in our little one bed flat (I type from the blow up air bed in the front room). I've been surfing RightMove for ages and just came across this wreck of a place but.. it's a 3 bed Victorian semi with SO MUCH POTENTIAL! And, with mortgage of about 100k could hopefully be in our price range.

We have done some work on our flat but all very simple stuff like panting and decorating and we also got the bathroom renovated. So it's fair to say that we are novices.

So oh wise ones - how much do you think it's cost to do up this place? It looks in such a state and I think every room would need replastering and rewiring. Probably need a new boiler, maybe new windows and (in my dreams) it'd need a back and side extension and potentially the loft done too.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55389972.html

I have no idea... but found this site on Google

www.homebuilding.co.uk/renovation-assessing-the-potential/

You'd need to budget for renting elsewhere for 3 months (so probably 6 months as I doubt you'll get a short let) then as a rough guide in outer London:
£40k + for loft conversion
£10k for windows more if you go for replacement sash
£5k/bathroom on a budget
£10k for a budget kitchen
£5k wiring same £5k plumbing
Extension upwards of £60k
£10k for building work & plastering

I'm a bit out of touch now so might be more but it's a big costly unless you plan on doing work yourself or over time

100k - 150k depending on what needs doing. Why not give the estate agent a call and discuss it with them?

Putting aside major issues like potential reroofing or dampwork and forgetting about extensions etc i would say you would need at least £35,000 to £40,000 to do a standard renovation (so new windows, heating, elecs, kitchen, bathroom, plastering and redecorating). With children I wouldn't want to live in it when you are doing the work so factor in some more money for renting.

You’d need to factor in time for planning permission for your extension as well, we were 9 months waiting on planning for our extension before work could begin, we also went from a 14 week build to 6 months because our shitty builders got more work half way through our contract so we couldn’t complete and move in!
5 k for re wire and 5 k for plumbing is a low ball estimate, it’ll cost more than that when it comes to it and then you need to remember you’ll have to have cash for furnishings. Carpets curtains blinds patio gardening fencing exterior etc.... it’ll cost more than you could have nitially think

Ok so my opinion is that Windows look like reasonably recent UPVC so not pretty but you could live with them, but you'd need to do boiler and kitchen immediately (c. £11-15k depending on spec) and could then potentially do the rest room by room if you had to. Loft conversion = £40k minimum. BUT that particular house has a major damp problem which you'd need to know you could get on top of - personally I'd be extremely wary on that front.

I would budget 30k,( roughly what I’m spending on my current renovation) should cover wiring plumbing kitchen bathroom plastering, joinery, I’ve had to reroof and dig up a floor as well. Try not to replace doors and windows unless you have to and don’t choose expensive kitchens or bathrooms, if you choose wisely it will still look expensive.

No idea about renovations but it’s a lovely house.

I am in london. The house next door was in similar condition and with an extension it as just under £150k I think. And that was an Ikea kitchen etc.

I could make that liveable for 7k ish I think but I'm quite handy and good with DIY

proper, full renovation to ultra modern done by professionals would be more like 30k min

Depending on finish etc we've just done house rewire, extension etc and it's been 90k so far, not done yet.

If you got the damp issue sorted first and then boiler / bathroom and kitchen done it would be liveable - then you could decorate room by room. Really the biggest issue is / could be the damp as until you know what’s causing it you won’t know how much it will cost to fix.

That aside, bathrooms cost upwards of £6k, same for kitchens, it’s a bit how long is a piece of string though because so much depends on how budget-y you want to go and how much you’re prepared to do yourself.

New boiler around £2-£2.5k for completely new system.

If I was buying this on a budget I would need about £50k min to even get anywhere near liveable. That’s without extensions etc.

(Completely off topic but I used to live 5 mins up the road from Thornton Heath and I wouldn’t live there if you paid me! But that’s neither here nor there really...!)

Our current house was worse than that when we moved in, no damp but we had no central heating and God awful rotten windows. Our daughter was only 10 months at the time.

We got the central heating and windows done first, came to about 7 grand (this was 14yrs ago) and then did one room at a time. We couldn't afford to rent so had one nice room and lived in that, It's only when I look back at the videos that I can't believe we did it as it was a dump lol but it wasn't that bad at the time and well worth it in the end.
It took a year to save up to do the kitchen, including knocking a wall down, we made do with a teeny tiny kitchen that only had some cheap open ikea shelves, a sink and a second hand stand alone oven.
I think to get it nice it cost about 40 grand, in later years when we had more money we changed the layout and added a loft conversion and now it's finished we've sold it haha.

It is doable but you have to put up with dust and dirt for a long time. Get an independent surveyor for that damp, it will save you a fortune! It's probably just a leaky gutter or the pointing needs looking at 👍

It's a lovely house, I would go for it 😊

Just remembered that you don't have to do it all at once. If you do an to extend kitchen there is no point in spending money until you can do it all. You can do the bare minimum to move in then do a room at a time as you get the funds available. You have one dc, so don't need 3 bedrooms immediately etc. But it is a blank canvad so in the end you get the house as you want it and probably cheaper than buying one that didn't need work done.

Refurb as is with no extensions I would say 40-50k dependant on finish quality.

@Fairylea you lived in Norbury years ago and probably wouldn't recognise the place now (I remember your comments from previous threads) 🙄

But TH is still a little rough around the edges, do you know the area OP? The house is very big as is, extensions and loft wouldn't be needed now so you could sort out the damp, boiler, bathroom, kitchen, carpets and rewiring now, I'd say min of £60k.

OP are you crazy? You'd have to budget a minimum of 50-60k for basic renovation (London trade prices high at the momnet) That would leave you with a very small (67sqm) house 0.8 miles (too far) from nearest station, which happens to be Thornton heath! A small over priced house in a rough area? Madness. Look near East Croydon, addiscombe, Norwood junction even Thornton heath if you like it. Pleantly of bigger & better houses for the amount you'd have to spend.

Actually I do go to Thornton Heath and norbury very regularly as I have family there, but thanks for the assumption and the rolley eyes.

Yes but you don't live there. I did and I can categorically say it is not as bad as you think it is.

And you're welcome for the rolley eyes.

Sorry for the slow response (teething 10mo!) and thank you for all your responses. Really useful to have some figures to put to things. It's seeming a bit out of our league really but I might put it forward to DP anyway.

The link is very useful so thanks for that @Hellohah.

Yes I live the other side of Crystal Palace @RedNed , near Anerley so I know the area but not really TH/Norbury. We were originally looking at Beckenham, though we'd love to stay in CP really.

Not crazy @Kamma89, just interested as ive always wanted to do a renovation but have no starting point when it comes to costs, until now! I've vowed that I'd never live in Croydon haha so I think it'd either be Beckenham or out of London, though god knows where we'd go if we left the city!

Thanks again everyone for imparting your knowledge. It will be a beautiful house when finished!

Still thinking about this place.. is renovating just a total fucking nightmare? I've seen enough Grand Designs to think that it is but all I can see here is potential! Plus there's nothing on the market atm that suits our needs.
Or it's upsticks and leave the city - but where to?! I just can't imagine living anywhere but London.

Its SSTC op.

Was that you with a mad 4pm offer??? If so we need the blow by blow renovation story as it unfolds...

I wish @MessySurfaces! If only we knew who it was and we could request them the same.. I'd love to see what it looks like once done up. Maybe it's been bought to be flipped so perhaps it'll be delisted in a few months at £600k+

My should I stay or should I go conundrum continues though.. all of us in our one bed is a nightmare but even with a mortgage we can't afford much in our desired areas. Plus wtf is going to happen after Brexit?! Oh Jesus...!

Price crash after brexit and you find somewhere?? Are you looking at ex council? I'd have thought you'd get something on your budget. Fingers crossed!!!