Might move in 5 years might not - what to do with kitchen with the uncertainty

[OldLeatherSuitcase]

We've been in our house 6 years. It was a wreck and we've gradually had windows replaced, had new bathroom, had some of the bedrooms and other rooms done.

Kitchen hasn't been done yet but is looking quite shabby and desperate now. We might move in around 5-7 years time, or we might not, we're not going to know until nearer the time.

I'm finding it hard to decide what to do with the kitchen. If we stay in this house forever it'd be worth getting an extension, if we move in 5 years time we'll have wasted our money.

But if we do it up in as cheap and basic a way as possible to sell in 5 years time we might regret that too.

How to decide when I'm not sure how long we're staying?

The kitchen is absolutely freezing and awful to be in through winter, there's a wall at the garden end of single brick and the only way we'd fix that is by having it rebuilt. I can probably put up with this for 5 more years but beyond that I'd like a kitchen I can stand in and not freeze to death.

Five years is a long time, no-one would ever do anything in their house if they couldn't guarantee they would live there for over five years! And presumably if you do sell a nice kitchen will make it easier to shift?

I would do the work if you can afford it- my thinking is that it will add value to the house so when you come to sell it it will be worth more.

I have a similar dilemma in that we might move in around 5 years time but we really need work to be completed on the house. I am ploughing ahead with it, I figure it will add value if we do move and if not then we have a house that will suit our needs much better than what we have now.

It will add value but it will cost us more than we make back.

I have three options

1. Full extension costing lots of money (will have to borrow more on mortgage) plus new kitchen units etc
2. Just get the end wall rebuilt and replace the windows (to make the room warmer) and get new kitchen units
3. Just the kitchen units

Should have said that in OP sorry!

Does the wall HAVE to be rebuilt? Can it be insulated from the outside and cladding put on?

I would do option 2 but source a second hand wood kitchen which can be chopped up to fit your space.

However, if it's tiny I would bite the bullet and do an extension.

Don't just think about the resale value, but also consider the impact on your quality of life there. 5 years is a long time to live in a miserable, cold environment.

If you go with option 2 or 3 i reckon that would force the decision to move in five years because they are just a sticking plaster to the solution.

If you can afford it I would absolutely go with option 1. Five years is a long time to live with mediocre.

Five years is far too long to be cold and miserable! We won’t make the money back on our extension in three short term but every day it gives me joy and enhances my quality of life

I would do option 2 if you think you’ll move in 5-7 years. That’s a long time! But not long enough to get the benefit of spending a whole load of money doing option 1.

The extension.

I’m in a house we were supposed to be in for 2.5yrs and made decisions based on that, like schools, size of house, etc.. 7 years later we are still here! Ugh. Do what makes your life more enjoyable to live there as you don’t know how long you’ll be there really

We had this dilemma 7 years ago. We bit the bullet and extended, putting in a new kitchen in the process. The only regret we had is that we didn't do it sooner!

As it happens, we havent moved although the plan is now to move in 3 years time. So we will have had 10 years of our gorgeous kitchen/family room.

Think about how much you would pay per month to have the kitchen with the extension to use. Say it's around £100. Multiply that by 60 months and you would be willing to pay that much to have the extension if you move in five years. Add in the estimated amount it would increase the house value. And add the amount you would spend to do the minimum to the kitchen you would have had to do if you hadn't got the extension. If that all adds up to more than the extension would cost it would be worth having it.

Thanks for the thoughts, looks like all of you think it's too long to be cold and miserable so I should at least consider option 2 if not option 1!

I do regret not doing it first as we've been here 6 years now, but as the kitchen at the time was relatively ok looking compared to the rest of the place, it had to wait!

I do wish I could see into the future, I know I'll regret the money spent on an extension if we move. Just need that crystal ball...

I think 5 years is a long time to be in limbo. I'd get a compromise kitchen. It would add value when you sell. Better than what you've got now and you get to use it in the meantime.

With option 2 do you have enough space to just build a second wall inside the excising room and avoid knocking down and rebuilding the existing wall?

I'd go for new kitchen or new kitchen and extension. 5 years is a long time. in fact we got our extension and kitchen with the intention of moving in 5 years. we've had it in one year and come into a small amount of money so will actually be most likely moving next year. Altogether cost us 22k but we will make most of that if not all when we sell.

FrogFairy I'm not sure, I'll explore the idea.

Someone else suggested cladding. I probably need to get a builder round again to get a quote and see what the options are. One builder friend of ours told us it was too thin and I realise I'm saying it needs rebuilding when maybe an extra layer could just be added inside or outside.

winetime89 22k sounds a really good price for both kitchen and extension. I had a builder come round and he said £40 - £50k! And it's only a narrow side extension.

I think you have to balance out the cost versus what the additional value of your property might be, coupled with the quality of life you will have with a better kitchen, for at least 5 years.

@OldLeatherSuitcase

winetime89 22k sounds a really good price for both kitchen and extension. I had a builder come round and he said £40 - £50k! And it's only a narrow side extension.

Really that seems very expensive. I wonder if it depends on where you live, I'm yorkshire so might be cheaper. Extension was 15k. A 3 metre one with velex windows then kitchen was a howdens one, 7k including fitting with all built in appliances and flooring, the fitter was shit though unfortunately so had to put a few things right ourselves.

Our extension, including the new kitchen, was £60k. We were told to budget for £1.5k per square metre and it came in about that. That was 7 years ago.

I'm in the South East, I'll go outside tomorrow and measure up how many square metres it is.

I'm now having fun planning both options 1 & 2. I've realised that there are some downsides to an extension; we'd lose our side access to the garden, and it'd make the middle room dark.

We did an extension with new kitchen 5 years ago and now we're moving. I don't regret it at all as we've lived in a lovely space for 5 years and it's made it easier to sell. As long as you don't go crazy on either taste or price, I don't think you'd regret it either.

@MrsJamin

We did an extension with new kitchen 5 years ago and now we're moving. I don't regret it at all as we've lived in a lovely space for 5 years and it's made it easier to sell. As long as you don't go crazy on either taste or price, I don't think you'd regret it either.

Do you think you will get price of the work back in full when you sell? I agree that definitely makes houses easier to sell/more attractive but in the area I’ve been looking (London suburbs) it’s adding eg 20k to a 540-ish house, so wondering if it’s even covering costs?

Asking as trying to work out what I should do myself

If we'd done the work a year ago, I'd be more upset about the money. We've definitely increased the value of the property by a long way but probably not added the whole value of the work to the house. But then we are not property developers; we are a family and this has been our home. You can't summarise your home's value as you would do a business, with costs and prices alone.

I’d definitely consider getting the new kitchen if you’re staying 5 years, would help sell it anyway if you’ve already done up the bathroom, etc.

Could you use insulated plasterboard like these for the cold external wall in the kitchen?

www.travisperkins.co.uk/product/building-materials/plaster-and-plasterboards/thermal-insulated-plasterboard/c/1500005/