I have £20k to do up my new house. What do I prioritise?!

[changeofname0987]

I'm buying a lovely 3 bed terrace for myself and my DDs (10&7). It needs work but is liveable for now. I'll need to strip the woodchip and liner paper that's everywhere. New flooring. Lick of paint. Rip out old built-in wardrobes. New porch in the front. Reinvigorate the garden etc. Here's the thing. The bathroom needs doing. I'd like to extend the kitchen into the side return... There's already a UPVC conservatory there but would like to knock the wall through and have a big living space. Kitchen is ok but ideally I'd have a new one that fits the extended space. Wondering whether to go all out on that and get the living space the way I want it, and live with the rest until I earn more money. I'm in London though so think £20k might be a drop in the ocean for a kitchen and extension...

What would you prioritise? How can I possibly achieve a new extension (conservatory, lean to or orangery... Whatever) for £20k? Am prepared to do as much of it myself as I can and with help of friends/family.

Tbh I would get a few builders round, explain the situation and also say you are keen to do as much as you can yourself. I’ve always found people very helpful with suggestions if you’re upfront and they’re often happy to reduce their quote if you will deal with eg clearing rubbish and rubble, knocking stuff down etc.

I would prioritise the basics first, plumbing, electrics, once they are sound if I was in your position I would forget extending until I had more money, I would decorate throughout and put in a new kitchen and bathroom nothing to fancy as your budget is small, make the house as nice as you can with its current layout and then save up for your extension.

Congratulations on your new house! General wisdom seems to be to live in the house for about a year before doing anything radical in it to change. That way you'll see where the light moves throughout the year and you'll get a feel for the house. And it will also give you an opportunity to save for an extension.
That said, in the interim, I'd strip the woodchip paper and paint the walls. And if you couldn't live with the bathroom I'd do that as well.

A side return will be more than £20k, before you start on the kitchen (I'd also love to have one!).
How long is your mortgage fixed for? You might be able to borrow extra when you remortgage to afford the side return. I wouldn't half-heartedly do a new conservatory if that isn't what you want long-term (apologies if I've misinterpreted your post but it sounds like you'd prefer the side return).

Did your survey raise any issues? We've been working through ours in order of severity lots to do!

How's the roof, windows, boiler? Is your loft insulated? Are your electrics up to date and chased in? If not, do these first.

Then, I'd replace the bathroom (can you add a downstairs loo too, if there isn't one already?), get rid of the woodchip, and either hang lining paper or have the place skimmed, and decorate. New flooring throughout. Sort the garden so you and your DSs can enjoy it. Replace the porch. That'll probably be most of the £20k if you outsource the work (but less if you DIY it).

Thanks everyone! @moreismore I hadn't thought to get some builders round and just ask what I could achieve. Also good to know it might be cheaper if I offer to get rid of rubble etc...

@BettyBooJustDoinTheDoo I think you're right, I need to be sure th e basics are sorted. And quash the childish part of me that just wants everything done yesterday...

@user1478299641 that's a good tip, wait and live in it for a while. I suppose that would tell me what I need to do out the back. I think previous owners had their washing machine in the conservatory so I might need to do the kitchen a bit anyway to squeeze one in there.

@awkwardpaws27 congratulations on your new house! So helpful, your list of things to consider. Roof and boiler are in good nick, windows are liveable. Not sure about loft. Survey hasn't been done yet, in next few weeks. So I'll see but I think it's pretty sound. Maybe an extension is premature... My mortgage is fixed for 5 years though, not sure I can wait that long! I just need to get in there I suppose and I'm sure once I've stripped it out it'll feel better already.

The way to look at renovations . Is
A. Watertight - i.e roof, soffits, drain pipes, windows,doors. Damp proof.
B. Heating. Boiler, adequate radiators, Insulation (pipes, loft , ceilings etc)
C. Kitchens,Bathrooms
D. Decor

Missed off electrics !

Getting rid of the rubble would be a nightmare!

Congrats - what fun!

If you have basic repairs to do e.g. roof, electrics, heating, etc. do those first. Then pick the room you spend the most time in (awake) and do that up.

Congrats! We were thinking the same as you and had originally wanted to remodel and extend kitchen however as soon as we got quotes we realised our budget wasnt enough and instead starting with basics (As others have suggested) electrics, plumbing, windows, roof. Then decorate. Whilst that’s all being done, save, save! Extensions in London aren’t cheap.

Thanks a lot for your replies. Yes I'm realising that an extension is years off. I will just make the best of what's there, maybe re-jig the kitchen to fit a washing machine in, ensure it's sound as per your list thanks @VictoriaBun and squeeze the bathroom in if I'm lucky. Then save heartily!

@changeofname0987 thanks - you too!

We've actually been here nearly two years - we've replaced the roof, boiler and windows, and done the master bedroom (needed to be completely stripped, rewired, new flooring, lining paper and decorating - it was the worst room due to leaking roof!). We ran out of money so are just waiting for our remortgage and extra borrowing to be approved - bathroom and kitchen desperately need doing.

Just a thought, do you have a good loan to value? Fixing for 5 years may be good if you do, but if you are at say 82% or something it might be worth fixing for a shorter period and remortgaging to a better rate once you get under 80% (or borrowing extra). Definitely a conversation for a mortgage advisor though!

Yeah do the basics first and see what you have leftover £ wise. Get lots of quotes for any work you do as you'd be surprised by the difference in prices you'll get
You could look out for ex display wardrobes or even kitchen units and get a few quotes for getting those fitted. I know a few people who have done this and theirs turned out great. Do some painting yourself, I was surprisingly good at it despite having never lifted a brush before
I was very impatient when we bought our house and wanted it ALL done ASAP. Almost signed up to one of those flexi finance plans to cover my dream kitchen thank god OH stopped me as interest was outrageous!

@AwkwardPaws27 blimey you've done a lot! Fingers crossed you can get some manageable finance to sort your next projects. I literally don't understand what you've said about mortgage whatsoever which is totally a reflection on my lack of knowledge and thank god I have an amazing financial adviser! The 5 year rate seemed to save me a significant amount of money in itself so I might stick with it.

@boosterrooster thanks it's great to hear about people who've been happy with ex-display. I've been looking on the Used Kitchen Company website actually, some nice finds on there.

We're two years into a Victorian mid terrace:
First was damp course, plastering and most of the decorating, plus electrics which were shocking (no earth).
Then a leak in the roof.
Then making the small garden liveable
Then windows which I thought could wait but they are so much warmer. Bit of decorating after that needed doing but not much.
We were thinking of extending (just a lean to for the washing machine really) but we can live with it.
I think we can actually live with everything else now but the stair and landing carpet is next but not urgent.

It's full. Really dull. But check out your loft insulation too. It's potentially a DIY job but can be messy so worth doing before you tidy the rest of the house up.

@drspose yes I think I'll need to do a lot of the same. I live in a Victorian terrace at the mo and there's always something unexpected that comes up. I love 'em though

@didireallysaythat great tip thank you. I will have to check it... realising I have to start a great long list... I feel a new notebook coming on...

We are also two years into a new house (waves at drspouse from the house move threads of 2016!) in London, and spent 20k when we moved in. It covered-
New boiler
New (somewhat fancy) bathroom
Rewire and new consumer unit
Refinish all ceilings (they were WEIRD)
Paint all walls (in trade white)
Sand and finish all floors
Rebuild staircase
Rebuild garden fences.

We'd like to do something to the kitchen in future but that's as far as the 20k went! And we did nothing at all ourselves, and were able to stay elsewhere while the builders blitzed through the rewire/ceilings/walls/floors.

We’ve been in for not quite 2 years and £16k ish has bought us:

• replastering both upstairs bedrooms including boarding ceilings
• replastering ceiling and one wall downstairs lounge
• redecorating 2 upstairs bedrooms (solid wood flooring, skirting board, underlay, paint for walls) all done DIY.
• check/sweep chimney and fit wood burner
• new bathroom: materials only as DIYed.
• knock down old garage and replace with new shed and driveway.

Your loan to value (LTV) is basically what percentage of the house value your mortgage is (ie the bigger your deposit, the lower your LTV). A lower LTV usually allows you to be eligible for better interest rates - so if your LTV was say, 82%, you might want to fix for a shorter period and remortgage once you get to 80% as there are usually better interest rates once you get to 80% or under, 70% or under etc.
Longer fixes usually have higher interest rates than short term fixes, although you have more security if rates rise. You need to be sure you'll be living there for 5 years though, as there will usually be an early repayment fee if you moved (or changed mortgage product) before the end of the 5 years.
The money saving expert website has a mortgage search where you can compare mortgages by length of the deal (rather than the whole mortgage term). Hope that helps clarify my last post a bit

I've been in 6.months and had 14. 5k which covered:
Partial rewire in all rooms except kitchen
Everywhere plastered except kitchen
New bathroom fitted
New wooden flooring throughout except kitchen, new skirting.
New inner front door (have porch)
New windows throughout
Some Handyman jobs and pax wardrobes built.
New hinges on doors and new door handles throughout.

No money left, have worked through painting it all myself and putting up blinds.

Now have to sort kitchen and lean to. Then sell. And move....

I think if you get trades in and buy the fittings yourself then you can save more money. A builder costs more than the individual trades. I bought my fittings in the year before and spent around 2.5 k so £17k all in.

Decide what you need to do then what you want to do and shop around each element.

For £12k in 2016 I did:
Upstairs back to brick, replastered, new doors, skirting, architrave etc
Partial rewrire (upstairs) and new consumer unit
New bathroom
Upstairs decorated

Not included in that cost is furniture and new carpets upstairs

Thanks again everyone. It's so interesting to read all these breakdowns of what you've achieved for what budget.I can't wait to see what my survey comes back with.

What do you think... my financial adviser suggested I wait to see what the lender's survey shows up then maybe get a full structural survey instead of a homebuyers survey, and then get an electrician and a plumber to come and look around and give me their opinion instead. Not sure what I think about that?

I would definitely get quotes.

We had a structural survey and got an architect friend to come on the second viewing with us, before we offered, to make sure we weren't being loons. After the survey our builder went in and quoted.