Is a side infill worth the money?

[samosamo]

Dear All,

Another one from me, sorry!

So, I want to do a loft conversion (quotes coming in at £40-50k). I also wanted to do a side infill, and quotes are coming in at £60-70k.

We think it probably isn't our forever home, so we want the work we do to increase value otherwise we probably won't do it.

I think the loft extension is a good idea as it will transform the house from a 3 to 5 bedroom house with one ensuite, one jack and Jill bathroom on first floor and and then family bathroom in loft.

As the side infill is so expensive I'm wondering whether it is worth doing. The house is terraced Edwardian so long and thin. It already has a 3 x 3 extension on it attached to the kitchen at the back. I would probably spend £20 on the kitchen and making the extension more attractive anyway (thinking bifold doors on the rear wall and rightside wall of the extension so in summer the garden fells like it is inside, a bit like this images.app.goo.gl/jZWwg5B9BviLwpdf7

• the left side wall is the party wall with neighbours).

Is the side infill worth it at £60-70k? I lot of the properties on the street have the full wrap around. Would I be looking to sell for £60k less than their's because if that's it, I probably would just do that and save myself the stress etc of a 6 month build with kids eating particles of builders dust for dinner ;p Maybe I could really go to town on the loft? And it already has an extension?

Thoughts please!!!!

How many reception rooms? Can you eat in the kitchen?

If most of the houses locally have done it then I would say either do it properly (ie extend) or do nothing. Don’t spend £20k refurbishing but not extending, as lots of your potential buyers will want to do the extension, so you won’t get your £20k back.

As to whether it will add more than £60k - don’t know, depends on property prices in your area. You’ll have to look at sold prices- how much more do side return extended houses sell for? In my area they definitely add more than the cost of the building work as there’s a lot of people with young kids who will pay extra not to have to live through the dust and stress so will pay a premium to have it already done.

All of this depends on how long you want to be there though- if you’ll be there 10+ years then do what suits you and never mind resale.

We have a Victorian house - long and thin like yours. We had this done 5 years ago and paid £80k including everything - kitchen fittings, tiling etc. For us it was our forever home and totally worth it as the space we now have is huge. I think if you are planning on selling you'll get back what you paid but only just.

How many more years do you plan to live in the house? Also can you live there whilst the work is taking place? We stayed in the house because the boiler was in the loft so we still had access to heating and water. If your boiler is currently in the kitchen it may not be possible unless you have an electric shower not connected to the boiler. Cooking wasn't a problem - we bought one of those JML multi cookers and it was fine for 3 months.

Thank you!

I've got to spend the £20k, the house was done by previous owners for tenants. And I really want to put those doors in.

The side return is about 6metres long by 1.5 metres wide. I am opting NOT to have a wrap around because I want to keep a usable space beside the existing extension to give the kids more room to run around. In that space I'll probably put some garden furniture in summer. If I do a wrap around I'll still want to feel the sun on my face so I'll steal 2 metres of the garden from them and it is already only 12 metres.

So at 9 metres squared I'm paying £6,500 per sqm! Phwaor

We're thinking this is a 5 year home, until we need to move for secondary school.

The houses on the street appear to have neither loft nor rear extension/side infill or loft and wraparound. None have my combination.

We're ok on the logistics for cooking etc so could live in. Rent around here would be around £2.5k per month, more for a short term let.

Yes, can eat in kitchen diner area easily. Otherwise there is a separate 4x8 through lounge.

£5500 per sqm sorry

If it's a 5 year home then I'd do it - plenty of time to enjoy it before you move!

Building costs seem to go up at a rate of ~15% year on year so if you have the money I would do a full side return now. You'll get a far better return on a side return than re-vamping the existing kitchen.

The houses on the street appear to have neither loft nor rear extension/side infill or loft and wraparound. None have my combination.

Yes this is usual round my way. Houses are either “done” or “not done”. You may find a “half done” house is less attractive than either to buyers.

If you definitely want to do the £20k then I agree with the pp, go the whole hog and do the side return. I would also do a wrap around - but gardens round here are more like 5-7 m long so 12m seems loads!!

Having a side return has 100% improved our enjoyment of our house. The extra space means that we have more room to cook together, home work, storage and to dance! Our house is also a lot more lighter.

I think it depends on where you live. If you’re in a well to do area then you definitely get the money back as it’s a bit of a nightmare to live through so people pay not to have it done with them in situ. In my area of SW London houses with the side return done cost at least 100- 120k more than those without. Living wise it makes a huge difference to the house and the kitchen. However if your house is at the ceiling for the area then I wouldn’t bother, but I also wouldn’t expect to necessarily get the money back for minor improvements (like bifolds) either.

Houses around here are 1.1m ish without loft and wrap around, £1.5m with. I can't work out how much is due to the wraparound/ side infill a step loft moves it from 3 bed to 5 bed. But looks like the opinion on here is to do it!

Thank you

@samosamo

Houses around here are 1.1m ish without loft and wrap around, £1.5m with. I can't work out how much is due to the wraparound/ side infill a step loft moves it from 3 bed to 5 bed. But looks like the opinion on here is to do it!

Thank you

The great majority of the price difference will be the side return. People know a loft is cheaper to do and less horrible to live through. So they won’t pay nearly such a premium for someone to have done it for them. Buyers aren’t daft, they’re not just looking at 3 bed vs 5 bed they know full well what can be done by way of extension and what it costs!