Has anyone regretted adding on an extension?

[Ahhhhcrap]

We live on ‘the threat’ of the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, with it being just less than 1 mile from us if our route is approved.

The extension costs are coming in at £70k ish for a 9x4m extension.

Whilst we have the money from an inheritance, DH doesn’t want to spend it.....on anything at all. He is happy for it to be sitting in an account. (No jazzy holidays, no car upgrade etc) The new part would turn 2 out of 3 bedrooms into much user-friendly double bedrooms giving us the storage we desperately need. We envisage being here for a minimum of 5 years.

So, my question is...if you have had an extension and regretted it please let me know why.

It sounds like you either need to do the extension or move! Will you be happy staying if the new road is approved?

Just to clarify, I haven’t had an extension and regretted it but didn’t want your post to go unanswered.

We have an extension that gave us a 4th bedroom & ensuite. Absolutely no regrets.

In your case how will the line impact the value of your home if it does go ahead? I wouldn't spend £70k that wasn't going to add to the value of the property/mostly be recouped when sold.

Is the problem that DH is worried about house value of the road goes ahead? Or does he just not want to spend the inheritance money? What are his alternative plans given you need/want more space?

We considered an extension with inherited money but we probably wouldn't have seen the money back if we wanted to sell. So we are planning to knock the old conservatory and gain part of the garden back. Then we'll pay off some of the mortgage. We concentrated on creating more space by decluttering and using current space better which worked for us but others might need more space anyway.

I had a small extension in my last house and did regret it as it did not add value in the way you get lead to believe. It added no value at all.

I know builders command high prices in your area and it may well go up and up beyond 70k so if I was in your shoes, I would not do it.

Also if the road impacts prices then you are sinking money into a house that will be losing value anyway.

Gosh, so many threads about extensions.
If I was only planning on spending a few years at a property (and to me 5 years is a few) I wouldn't bother extending it. Building works are a pain in the bum, with masses of dust, dirt and upheaval. Why go through all that just to sell soon after, so that the next person can enjoy the fruits of your labour. We have extended our house, but we have now been here for nearly 17 years, and have no plans to move. I think I would have regretted it if we had forked out a shed load of money and then decided to move on.

Your extension does not sound very exciting if it’s just giving you bigger rooms for storage! If you were having a fabulous kitchen extension with all the bells and whistles I’m sure you would not live to regret it and would thoroughly enjoy the finished result until you came to sell it, as you are only going to be there 5 years I would just invest in some bespoke storage solutions myself.

Do you mention the Oxford to Cambridge road because you think it will lower the value of your house? I expect it might do the reverse if you're a mile away rather than having it pass right by your front door?

Or just because you would want to move if it went ahead?

Thanks for all your posts, they have all helped. To answer some questions...

DH is worried about pumping the cash into the house because we may lose value and not recoup the funds. He also just doesn’t want to spend the money, he wants it as a buffer for financial security. Interesting that you mention it may increase the value.

The extension would add at least one bathroom (possibly 2) and turning 1 boxroom into a master suite with walk-in closet and French doors into the rear garden with the second boxroom having a walk-in toy cupboard/wardrobe if not a bathroom.

I am a habitual declutterer. Every new season I sell DD’s old clothes, bless her, if she doesn’t play with a toy for 3 weeks I get rid of it. If you look up ‘minimalist’ in the dictionary my name is there....hence me wanting the storage space, to get everything out of sight yet easily accessible. (We currently have winter clothes hanging in the garage because wardrobe space is extremely limited) DD’s bedroom is an absolute mess and it’s driving me nuts. As it stands, her room doesn’t even accommodate a standard single sized bed comfortably.

DH’s alternative plan if not extending is to get built-in floor to ceiling wall-to-wall storage - but he is concerned that even this is going to cost so much that’s not comparable to what it gives us.

Unfortunately we moved from our ‘forever home’ of 3000 sq ft to this bungalow because I have a chronic debilitating degenerative illness which is going to get considerably complicated. Hence Dh doesn’t want to spend the money....yet physically I need to access items easily.

The joys of being a grown-up, eh!?

I've just had an extension on my house, it's cost us 30k and it's added 5k to the house value.. however we knew this before we done it, an estate agent told us we'd be mad to extend as we'd completely renovated and had hit the ceiling in terms of value for the location etc. We went ahead because we actually brought the house at a ridiculously cheap price because it was in such a bad state, so even with the mortgage, renovation and extension costs were still way below the house value so have equity.
We don't intend to move for at least 30 years when we may start considering bungalows etc.
So it may be worth getting it valued and finding out what an extension may add.. because if it won't add what your spending it may not be worth it.

I don't think it's worth it. You'll not add anything like £70k on the value and it doesn't sound like an exciting way to spend the money.

Save most but book a fab holiday.

I'd do it. We spend so much time in our homes and it's lovely having it as YOU want it, rather than how someone else has done it. We've extended up and out and I don't regret it at all. I love my home and the fact that it's planned with our family in mind. In fact, if I had lots of £££ I'd love to build a house!

I wouldn't do it. If it was to extend the living area maybe but not for bedrooms or storage. Its a huge help having a nest egg especially as financial stress will not help your illness. So l am with your dh here.
My dh has a long term illness and if l had to deal with financial worries on top of that it would wipe me out. Safety all the way.

I'm very sorry about your illness

70k is a huge amount of money to spend not to be confident of recouping at least the vast majority of the cost. The storage issue seems very specific to your needs rather than something universally appealing to buyers.

Surely a couple of grand would buy the snazziest floor to ceiling storage imaginable?

I think with you suffering from a degenerative illness can I understand why your husband is keen to have a really significant financial buffer.

Like others I don't understand whether the road is going to raise or lower the value of your house?

We live about 1 or 2 miles from where that road might go, if they pick a certain route.

I don't see it negatively impacting house prices, I see it as positive as it will greatly improve travel connections and alleviate local traffic issues. And there is a road there anyway, only in the future it will be bigger and faster.

As for the extension, I think if you need the space and want to remain in the house, go for it.

My parents spent money on an extension when we were young. I don't know if it improved house value, it probably did, but it hugely improved our quality of life which was more important.