How much to refurbish this stunning house?

[NotABeliever]

Asking for my brother who's chain free and recently moved to Oxford.
He's planning to redo all the wiring, plumbing, new boiler, new kitchen and bathrooms, all flooring, roof and decoration. He's asking me how much all this done to good standard would cost without an extension and not moving the plumbing unless absolutely necessary. I've recently refurbished a house but on a much smaller scale so I don't really know.
In particular, can you spot any extra structural work that may be needed from the video. It's in quite a state isn't it?
TIA

[RainingBatsAndFrogs]

Detailed survey for rot and woodworm in all joists and roof timbers.
Structural survey.
Damp survey
Drain survey
Complete new central heating system

Dry Rot could be a really serious issue if present.

[AlwaysLatte]

I'd be a bit concerned about why there is an Acrow prop holding up the ceiling/floor in Photo 12
Serious damp and rotting floor, I reckon.

[Autumnchill]

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

I'd be a bit concerned about why there is an Acrow prop holding up the ceiling/floor in Photo 12

Took the words right out my mouth.

[wonkylegs]

Our Victorian-semi refurb cost us £160k
However we had no issues with structure, or damp, we are in the NE (so cheaper) and I'm an architect so knew what I was doing and managed / coordinated each trade rather than using a main contractor
I suspect that without knowing what the structural issues are it's difficult to guess as they can run into thousands ( I did a refurb on a house with subsidence and the foundation works alone were £200k)
Our kitchen cost £30k
We managed to do 2 bathrooms and a WC for £7k
Our double glazed sashes cost around £28k plus £3k to paint them (hard to refurbish and replace glass only as on big sashes they become too heavy for the box weights)
We insulated loft and underfloor - we did this ourselves with sheepswool insulation
Heating system was £7.5k inc smart controls & tvrs
We only had to repair the roof not replace it.
Ours is in a conservation area which meant some stuff ended up being more expensive as it was dictated rather than a choice.
If he's interested he needs to get a survey and some professional advice but I'd expect to pay hundreds rather than tens of thousands. It's the kind of property that will go to a person to live in rather than a developer because the extent of works means there is no profit to be made, the person who buys it will do it because they want it not because the will make money from it.

[wonkylegs]

Oh yes and we were able to live in ours whilst we did the work so saved all the rental costs that this one would clearly have.

[Chicchicchicchiclana]

Summertown must be really nice! What sort of jobs do people who live there do? In my ignorance I never realised you could pay that much for a nothing special bog standard wreck of a house outside of London.

[badpuma]

@Chicchicchicchiclana

Summertown must be really nice! What sort of jobs do people who live there do? In my ignorance I never realised you could pay that much for a nothing special bog standard wreck of a house outside of London.

A lot of people in Summertown sold their house in Islington when the children approches secondary school age but the parents kept working in London.

The people who live in summer town and work in oxford are pretty much professors with serious side hustles (private medicine / best selling author) or who bought their house in 1952 and stayed ever since.

[Chicchicchicchiclana]

Yes Philip Pullman lives there doesn't he? But he has done since before he made any serious money iirc. I didn't realise people would commute from Oxford to London.

[plg21]

My house is a large 5 bedroom with kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, study, lounge and playroom downstairs. It was practically derelict when I bought it.

I'd say for around £100k I got:

• new windows (aluminium)
• whole house rewired
• completely new plumbing system with new radiators, pipes and boiler
• general building work (no extension but refurbishing in every room, knocking down internal walls, new roof over kitchen etc)
• everywhere replastered and decorated
• new kitchen and four bathrooms

[badpuma]

@Chicchicchicchiclana it's only an hour on the train to Marylebone from Oxford Parkway so within a reasonable commuting time, particularly for people who don't need to go into London every day.

[Starseeking]

At least £150k, I'd probably set aside £200k to include a £50k contingency as you don't know what you'll find in there.

[zzzebra]

It's got acro-props in it that imply there is some sort of structural issue.

It'd say you could easily spend £200k.

[soundofsilence1]

Looking at what is for sale locally I think you would get £1.2m when sold. I would be surprised though if you got much change from £250K to renovate it so you might break even.

[hashbrownsandwich]

DH the architect says around £200k but could well need a large contingency.

[Starseeking]

@badpuma

It's likely to be the upper estimates. There are not many builders in oxford who would be able to manage that sort of job and most of those are booked up way in advance for the universities and colleges.

Has your brother made any allowance for what it would cost to live elsewhere for a year or so while he works out what need to be done and gets the building work sorted.

There's no way anyone could live in that wreck while it was being done up.

He'd need to budget at least a year's rent, and presumably he'd be staying local to keep a close eye on the project, so that's probably another £50k-£80k (assuming he will be living with the same people he'd be renovating to live in the new house with).

[Tiffany777]

@star where sis you get £5080k form?

[Tiffany777]

Where did you get £50-80k from*?

[Starseeking]

Renting a 5/6 bed house in the same area is likely to cost in the region of £4,150-£6,150 per month. Multiply either by at least 12 months, and you get £50-80k spent on rent alone.

Tiffany buying this house would be an absolute money pit!

[VinylDetective]

@TheUnquestionedAnswer

I can't believe someone would pay that amount of money for a house, and then have to spend 300k+ on doing it up. Ridiculous.

It’s not ridiculous, it’s in a highly sought after area in one of the country’s most expensive cities. I posted a link to what you get for £1.25 million in Cambridge, that one also needs work although not nearly as much.

[Onedropbeat]

That’s beautiful and in the best street in oxford really


The window packacyalone would be around £60k

Looks like structural work requires too as there’s acroprops holding up the ceiling in places.

Some reconfiguring of the spaces will mean steels are required

Once the plumbing, electrics, plastering and basics have been done he’ll be wanting to fit it out to a decent specification so no cheap £10k kitchen and £6k bathroom

Even decent quality curtains and flooring will be expensive in such a big house

I’d expect to pay anywhere between £350-450k to get that perfect

[MoodyMarshall]

@Chicchicchicchiclana

Like @badpuma said, it's the poshest area in Oxford; lots of parents commuting to Marylebone to do high powered jobs, and the more renowned profs at the university.

Most academics can't afford Summertown anymore and live in Headington/one of the villages.

The houses in Summertown were built mainly in the 1870s, when the University decided that professors/academics were allowed to get married and not live in college

[Tiffany777]

@Starseeking thank you x


Anyone else think the potential buyer is out of his depth?

[Casiloco]

The short answer is "it depends". You've got posters on here with experience of refurbishment and their estimates vary widely.

As others have said, there is a world of difference between a property which has dry/wet rot, rotten roof joists or structural issues and a pretty which just needs a full refurb. The latter would make it a decent buy as the location is amazing and properties go for astronomical figures round there.

Some of the links to cheaper properties in good condition are NOT in Summertown, so are irrelevant. It really is THE place to buy in Oxford.

So yes, proper survey vital.

Having said all that, if he is buying the house for long-term to live in, it is irrelevant if the refurb would increase the value sufficiently to justify the spend in the short-term. It would be a great investment for the long-term and in the meantime, they have a lovely time living there!

[GrumpyHoonMain]

We looked at this house (close to work). DH and DB decided it would take at least 300k plus labour - which is worth it but we couldn’t find any local builders willing to take the project on during Lockdown. I think that’s probably why it’s unsold. In the end we chose to move closer to my family instead.

[Starseeking]

Although it's a huge job to refurbish, it looks like it would be a wonderful long-term investment; next door, number 16, sold for £1.030m 8 years ago, and it's a much smaller house. Even number 10, 2 doors down sold for £1.305m, a year ago, and again a much smaller house.

This house up for auction, number 14 (along with number 12 next door) are the biggest houses on the road, so should command top price, once completed to a high standard.

It's a great project, but probably best left for someone who really knows what they are doing. OP if your brother has no idea how much it would cost, it's probably not the house for him (unless he has extremely deep pockets, and money is no object).