Extension

[aquamarine1]

Hi,

I'm wondering how much cash people saved before the embarked on an extension? We'd be looking to start next year and mulling over finances just now.

Do you save the entirety in cash or part-cash and part-loan/mortgage funding?

Bump

Same boat here, but one year or so away from start.
I got some useful advice once about whether I should be asking for a loan - someone told me to look at the Loan to Value Ratio, i.e. how much of your house have you already paid? Have a look at what amount from the loan is still outstanding and calculate the percentage.
So, if your house is worth 100K and you've still got 60K to pay in the loan (interest aside), then you own 40% of your house's initial price. In that case, your position is solid.
You could release equity if the property has gone up in value (ask an estate agent - if now it's worth 150K, you might be OK to do it, just don't blow the whole 50K as you'll be potentially in a precarious situation if property prices slump).
This doesn't take into consideration how many years you still have on the mortgage or how much you could borrow.
Interest rates are historically low, so it might be tempting to take out a loan instead, but consider how a 1% hike alone in rates would impact your family's finances before jumping with both feet.
Sorry I couldn't help anymore.

btw, I'm not a financial advisor - but I totally recommend one. The best couple hundred of quid you will spend for a tailored advice that suits you and your family. I've always used one!

Thanks very much for your reply, really helpful.
We've only just moved in and currently have 30% equity so think a bit more saving is required! We're fixed for two years so I might look at refinancing when the mortgage term is up in 18 months.

I financed mine with cash. Redundancy and savings. Possibly not a great idea as I didnt have enough to complete and knew that. The last six months has been paying the finishing bits as and when.

Ideally if you can I would remortgage to release cash as that's the easiest and cheapest way. I got a credit card so when I got the point of thinking I might release some equity, my credit rating had taken a hit and a secured loan was 20%! Cant remortgage as fixed the ratex18 months ago 😭

We did a single storey, pitched roof extension. Including kitchen and furniture it was £90k all in for 30m2. £65k onto our mortgage (good LTV and interest rate so it cost the same a month) and the rest hard savings but so worth the hassle! It's transformed our house and life. Good luck

We’re just about to extend and we will largely be covering the cost by borrowing more on our mortgage, we currently have about 55% loan to value.

Thanks for the replies. Congrats on your completed work @4yearsnosleep, sounds amazing! Certainly a bit more high-end than we were thinking at 50k . I think ours is going to be about 18sqm though but gives space to move staircase and will make quite a difference.

We'll keep saving hard and hopefully borrow more off mortgage then.

@4yearsnosleep Is the kitchen a lot bigger now? I'm really thinking I need an extension. I would live a kitchen that would fit a small sofa.

Hi. It's really big, but we had about the same that was knocked through, so in total 60sq m. I think you'd still have space with 30sq m though

Wow, that is really big!!! Think I'll get my tape measure out and start doing some sums.