Loft conversion v single storey extension

[united4ever]

So which is better? Need a home office but only 50k ish to spend and if we do one I cannot see us being able to afford the other anytime soon but probably never.

It's a 3 bed semi, we have 2 kids (8 and 11). My son's room is tiny. With a loft conversion we could take some space from master bedroom for stairs and have the loft as the master bedroom with a dormer (Not too bothered about an suite). Then even losing the staircase, my son would get an upgrade to our old bedroom and I could use the box room he leaves as an office. So we end up with a 4 bed house (though box room used as office).

Single storey extension (Not even sure it can be done for 50k). Extend kitchen out to rear and the side (demolish garage to side) and have a room on the side as office (as well as much better kitchen/diner). We wanted to do this to the kitchen/dining for a long time but could never afford it. I am aware we are not adding a bedroom here and my growing son is stuck in the box room.

I know the above are two different things but which would you go for? In terms of cost I am thinking the loft would be cheaper but add more value (extra bedroom). Head is saying loft, heart is saying kitchen diner.

Finally, I don't want to waste builders time, I contacted one to bask them if they could quote. He asked where we are up to? Did we have drawings? We don't. I would value a builders opinion on the costs of both but I suspect we are going to have to decide first, get an architect to do plans, then get the builder to quote (He even said he is booked up for the year so quotes are for next year!). I would get a few quotes anyway. Any idea on the order to follow here. I totally get that a builder wants someone who knows exactly what they want but hard to make a decision when cost is such a big factor.

Thanks, I had never considered these things. Think our house is worth about 350k but maybe 400k if we do the loft with 115k left on the mortgage so we have a good LTV ratio. I am the only earner though at just under 40k salary.

We had the same problem. Box room was way too small ds. We also wanted to extend kitchen but that would have been £100k. In the end we moved to a bigger house. We stayed in the area and about half a mile away from our previous house.

We put two double rooms and a separate bathroom off a small landing in the loft. Added tons of value to the house. Don’t bother doing a loft extension without a bathroom. Personally I prefer a separate bathroom to an en-suite.

We did a loft conversion for approx £55,000. We have a large master bedroom with en-suite. And three double bedrooms on the lower floor. Because of the head height clearance from the stairs. We have to move the wall of the family bathroom and make it slightly smaller. So that’s our compromise. But our en-suite is a good size. I think it will add at least that amount to the value. If you do the loft conversion it’s worth investing in the en-suite. It’s best to have a toilet on each floor.