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Original poster

Aibu to not want to borrow against house for extension.

23 replies

tickledmagenta · 13/02/2019 15:54

I wasn't brave enough to put this in AIBU.

Basically we have a lovely house and we're about 5 years from being mortgage free.

Dh and I agreed that we want to extend band have been trying to save towards it. We've paid for other things (loft conversion, rewire, boiler) by saving cash and doing it that way.

Dh is a bit impatient and goes on and one about how wonderful the extension will be. How he wants the kids to have it while they're young etc.

However I don't want to borrow against a house that's almost paid off with an additional amount that is about 50% of what we have left to pay.

We've scrimped and saved to clear as quickly as possible, often going without nice things. I'd rather be patient, save in the meantime and then throw the force of extra cash we'll have at it once the mortgage cleared. The extension is not a necessity but a nice to have, if that makes sense?

Aibu?

OP posts:

endofthelinefinally · 13/02/2019 16:03

Can you remortgage and release some equity?
I wish we had been able to have our extension done when the DC were young so I do understand your DH's point of view.
I guess it depends how old you are and how secure your income is.
Everyone's circumstances are different.
We timed our mortgage payments to finish on retirement.
Will the extension add value to your property?
Maybe some independent financial advice would be helpful.

Sukochicha · 13/02/2019 16:06

Can you remortgage and release some equity?

That is literally what she doesn't want to do

Personally I would borrow for the extension in your shoes as it seems like you are sorted financially and would be fine with the extra mortgage repayments. Seems silly to wait 5+ years to do an extension when you could do it now and the children would be there longer to make use of it.

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 13/02/2019 16:11

If your house is almost paid off but the additional amount is 50% of what is left to pay, it sounds like you would still have a large percentage of equity in the house. I'm with your DH - I'd go for it!

Singlenotsingle · 13/02/2019 16:12

If you can afford the repayments (which it seems you can) I would say get a top up on the mortgage and get the extension done. Otherwise, before you know it, the dc will be grown up and off to Uni. Time flies, you know!

Being mortgage free isn't the treasure at the end of the rainbow, OP. We've still got a small mortgage on our house (and we're in our 60s; I'm retired) but because we've got an extension on our house, we rent that out and end up about £400 pm better off than if we were mortgage free. Happy days.

ILoveMarmiteToo · 13/02/2019 16:15

I too wouldn’t wait. We did ours 5 years ago and haven’t regretted it for one minute. The DC were 12 and 10 at the time and it has made such a difference.

woollyheart · 13/02/2019 16:15

If you wait too long, the children will be moving out and the house will be too big.

If you think that everyone will really enjoy the extension, I would go for it,

Original poster

tickledmagenta · 13/02/2019 16:24

Thanks so much for the responses. I think to save up will only actually take a couple of years (we have some shares etc that are due to mature and would require a small bridging loan of about £5k which I'm certain my fil would lend us without question rather than having to actually borrow).

Our kids are only 2 and 1 as well, so my other concern is the upheaval that will be caused by it. Our dining room and kitchen will be out of bounds for a while and I also work from home in in the dining room.

It sounds like I'm trying to talk myself out of it tbh! But I do want it done but I do like the idea of not having to borrow any really large size amounts of money. Dh's job is quite dangerous as well and my industry is in flux (loads of redundancies are happening at the moment and high profile companies going bust leaving freelancers out of a lot of money), so I guess I'm just scared that if we borrow against the house we could get blindsided with something further down the line that the cushion and equity we've built up would account for.

OP posts:

endofthelinefinally · 13/02/2019 16:33

Actually, as your children are so young I would wait. 2 years isn't long.

anniehm · 13/02/2019 16:37

We borrowed additional for our extension and I'm so pleased we did - yes we would be mortgage free this year if we hadn't but our kids are leaving home, we wouldn't need it then.

SinkGirl · 13/02/2019 16:40

I would get it done now and use whatever you can save to make overpayments rather than saving up and waiting - costs of extensions could go up over the next few years, and it would increase your house’s value.

Baconislife · 13/02/2019 16:41

Can't you borrow against the mortgage and then overpaying the repayment.

Bestseller · 13/02/2019 17:02

I am very very debt adverse. I have never been bought so much as a fridge freezer on credit but I think I would do this.

Assuming, that it leaves you still comfortably able to afford repayments, with a good level of equity and doesn't extend the term of the mortgage more than a few years.

I agree you may as well do it while your family will get most benefit from it

Bestseller · 13/02/2019 17:08

Oh, I've read the thread properly now! As DC are so small I'd wait til theyre at school, managing LOs on a building site is no fun

ajandjjmum · 13/02/2019 17:12

I always think it's a shame for people to buy lovely homes/have large extensions, when DC are mid teens, and realistically won't get years of benefit from it.

As your DC are so young, this doesn't matter, but as long as you've checked the figures, I would be inclined to go ahead while interest rates are low.

Singlenotsingle · 13/02/2019 17:28

As SinkGirl says, the cost of having the work done will probably go up in the next few years anyway.

ineedtostopbeingsolazy · 13/02/2019 17:35

We would have loved to have done our extension 10 years ago when the dc were younger but it wasn't an option, the bank wouldn't lend enough against the house in order to do it and then job loss made me glad we didn't,but that job loss meant our credit rating went to crap and couldn't get a loan.
So we saved (dh got a fantastic job) and paid cash.
Dc were later teens when we got it, some might say was it worth it as they'll be moving out soon but we've had it 2 years and it's been fabulous, they might only be here for another few years but it's still been worth it for the difference it's made for those years.

Original poster

tickledmagenta · 13/02/2019 17:37

Thanks everybody. Given me a lot to mull over. My gut is saying waiting a couple of years until they're in nursery and school might be best but perhaps borrowing a bit less against the house instead.

Thank you x

OP posts:

senua · 13/02/2019 19:55

Are you currently paying for childcare and/or are not earning? Once they are at school that will go so you can put the extra money towards the building work.
You could leave it a few years but don't keep putting it off.

Original poster

tickledmagenta · 13/02/2019 20:51

Paying for two lots of childcare at the moment.

OP posts:

PazRaz10 · 14/02/2019 10:59

I was gonna say go for it as you won't regret it, but seeing your little ones are 2 & 1, I would wait until they are a little older.
Whilst you wait, try and work out if the amount you are saving each month is the equivalent monthly repayment of the mortgage you would need to borrow - if it's about the same, you may as well release the money, do the work and be paying it off whilst enjoying the space.
We're in the middle of a build at the moment (walls were plastered yesterday!) and I can already see what a difference it will make. My children are 5 and 3.5 and it feels the right age for them. It's quite a disruption, but at least now they understand and are not crawling around!
We released some money about 2 years ago whilst the mortgage was due for renewal and have recently done it again on this renewal. With the equity we have gained in the last 4 years, we are hardly paying any more per month but have borrowed an additional £100k
Make sure you're mortgage is relative to the value of your property.

wufti · 14/02/2019 15:01

Bear in mind that finding a good builder and organising them to start could take a year - good builders usually have jobs lined in up for the next next few months - and then consider what time of year you would like the work to start. So, if you were to start planning and getting quotes, and wanted a summer build - you would be looking at summer 2020.

Original poster

tickledmagenta · 14/02/2019 15:08

Thankfully we have a builder that is a good family friend and has completed several projects (including a full loft conversion and en-suite with dormer), so he would happily fit us in and we live on the same road and he has a good band of labourers and other people they work with.

He's said to us to just give him a nod when we've had the architects plans drawn up and he'll fit us in ASAP.

OP posts:

Missnearlyvintage · 14/02/2019 16:49

I think I would agree a compromise. Really push ahead with your saving as you seem most comfortable with that approach, and see where you are financially in a year or 2.

Then you'll be able to reassess everything and if you do go ahead and do some borrowing, you will have to borrow less which will probably sit better with you.

I don't think your DH is being unreasonable, but you've worked really hard to get in the financial position you're in so it's not unreasonable for you to want to save the cash instead, especially as your DCs are still so young.

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