How much was your loft conversion?

[mymonkeysmycircus]

An estate agent casually said 'you could convert the loft for 35k' yesterday. This would be a neat solition for when/if future DC are out of nursery and we have more disposable income. There is virtually zero stock of 4 beds with character in the area we're looking at, so converting a Victorian terrace could be a way if getting our forever home.

But 35k? Really? In Hampshire?

It was £40 inc vat in a big northern city for me. Included planning and building regs, changing roof from hip to gable, dormer with French doors, velux , reroofing, fitting en-suite and tiling, staircase, all plastering, new oak firedoors throughout whole house, storage fitting in alcoves.

I got 4 quotes from 36k to 50k. South Wales. Plus bathroom, floors, decorating, extras. I am getting the mortgage for 45k. This was cheapest quote who I'm now on a long wait to start.

London and it was about £70k with decoration etc. That’s standard

Mine was about £25k ten years ago in Manchester. One quote was £40k even then.

Sounds reasonable. It depends on structural work required -floor needs strengthening with joists and possible steel ones, staircase, electrics windows plastering etc. If done without planning regs it will cause issues at sale.

I'm in Manchester. My brother has just been quoted £35k to turn a hip end into a gable end, stair case installed up there, and one bedroom with en-suite included in that price.

I think it'll differ area to area and on house.

I can't see it being £35k on a terraced property in my area if you're not having a dormer and just a velux window.

Ours was £36k 10 years ago. We're in SE London.

sandyvacancy £70k in London- really?! Gosh that seems so much! Do you mind me asking what kind?

Dormer with shower room. Same price as all my friends and a middling quote from several companies. This included everything. We did also need a wall knocked down and some remodelling of first floor to accommodate

We did ours last year, came in around £65-70k in the end. The initial quote was a lot less, but when you factor in fixtures, fittings, tiles, carpets plus a couple of upgrades from the conversion standard it added up.

We had a conversion on an ‘L’ shaped Victorian terrace, so a dormer on the main bit and another on the outrigger. 2 bedrooms, one with en suite. No regrets, it’s made a massive difference.

75k here (SouthWest), but enormous job and now equally huge space!

£50k ish but another £10k by the time I had bought furniture recarpeted everywhere etc.

You need to check if you boiler can service an extra bathroom - that may be an issue.

Thanks all pretty wide range there!

Has anyone just got a straight conversion without roof changes? I'm wondering if that might work better with our budget?

We didn't do any major roof changes but did have a large dormer and 2 skylights put in and created a big ensuite bedroom, taking us from 3 to 4 bedrooms.
Cost £35k about 2 and a half year ago in the Midlands.
We've just sold the house and were amazed how much the loft had added to the value of the house. Similar to you we're in an area with a lack of 4 beds so it was a great investment (and a lovely room).

We did ours in a Victorian terrace in the midlands for £22k 8 years ago - no bathroom and not including flooring or decoration but that's with a dormer not velux windows. Highest quote was only £25k.

Was told by a builder dormers aren’t expensive, a chunk of the cost is floor strengthening.

65K London it's a big job because it's a top floor flat (3 floor building) and the majority of the cost is going towards creating a strong floor that would take the roof if it ever came down, this protecting the flats below.. if that makes sense.

London this year, L-shaped on a small Victorian terrace. We've got one bedroom with dormer over the main house and a separate full-size bathroom over the back bathroom.

£63,500 so far, vs initial quote of £40K.

The £40K covers paperwork, scaffolding and skips, a new slate roof, construction, plumbing and electrics including smoke alarms in the rest of the house, finishing to bare wood and plaster, and bathroom fitting but not the bathroom suite, tiles or tiling.

The cost on top is the bathroom suite and tiles, bedroom furniture, carpets and painting, having an aerial fitted while we had easy access, and about £4.5K on a mist system and fire door for downstairs.

The upstairs is finished but the new stairs are still bare wood and plaster, so I think we will finish about 65K.

So the EA is right in that the quote for the core work is about £35K + VAT, but you'll need to consider the cost of decoration and (if you want a bathroom) bathroom suite on top.

I would always say have a 30% slush fund as they always seem to go over as per @Blibbyblobby

@MarieG10 in case I wasn't clear, the extra £25K was not an unplanned overrun, it was always in the budget for the jobs and materials that the Loft Conversion company don't include. The LC don't hide anything, it's all totally clear in the contract so it should be known and planned for.

Definitely agree the slush fund point, just that it should be on top of the whole budget not just the LC part!

We rent a 4 bed in a victorian terrace where two top bedrooms were added as a loft conversion, plus an additional ensuite there as well. Our teenage children love it. So yes I think it's a great idea for when you have older children that enjoy their independence/privacy. I think the cost of doing it was 40-50K.