Buying with extension in mind

[user1465146157]

We are looking for a bigger house at the moment but to keep within our budget it looks more likely we'll have to buy small and look to extend over the years

I've never done this before and not sure what I'm looking at - how do I know it a space is suitable for an extension?
Are there obvious things to look for?

If I see a large patio space, I think that would work to be extended outwards - are there restrictions I should be thinking about?
Is it usual practice to have someone professional take a look before we buy? Shall we ask the EA?

An example is I saw a kitchen the other day with a sink facing the window - is it possible / more costly to extend and move a sink / waterworks up into the garden area?

Any help appreciated!!

The biggest things to think about are size of the plot, you can usually go back, sides or up and how that will affect light, if it's too long and thin it can get quite dark in the middle. Legally there are only a few rooms that don't need an outside window, toilet, bathroom and kitchen I think, Once you commit to an extension moving the sink is a pretty small cost. The biggest problem would be a manhole cover in the middle of your patio as that would suggest a drain and they are a pain for extensions.
In terms of size you can do a certain amount under 'permitted development' and for bigger, you need planning permission. If you want to know what's possible on a street you can get a pretty good idea if other houses have had an extension you can probably do something similar.
You probably don't need to take someone at this stage, especially if it will cost you.

You have a lot to learn!

You need to think about whether the house has permitted development rights, or they are removed via a condition or local conservation area. Do other houses in the area have extensions already?

The the practicalities. e.g. where do the utilities, especially public sewers run? Soil pipes, electrics, water. Lots can be moved, but it all adds up. Also structural things too, load bearing walls etc.

Then cost. Building is really expensive at the moment due to COVID effects, and high house prices. Add on whether you need to rent whilst work is happening and you can be into hundreds of thousands quite quickly.

We bought with a view to extend. That was 10 years ago! Finances can change.... Children are expensive! Plus dealing with builders is stressful. We are possibly going to move without doing the work now - it's about 50-50!

Look at what has been set as a precedent by neighbours out with PD rules. For example we can go out single storey under PD but not up as we are in a locally listed area and all previous applications for up have been rejected in our road.

We took a builder round to see the house we were thinking of offering on, he'd done some work for us in the past.

We also asked an architectural technician we'd used in the past to have a look too.

There's really only one place our extension could go - but we wanted some advice on the supporting wall and how expensive that would be to break through and also on drains and things.

There's some good magazines you can buy like grand designs and homebuilder that give good advice and google 'how to plan an extension' to get an idea.

Also if you are looking at somewhere look and see what the neighbours have done.

It's expensive though. Ours isn't huge and its costing £110K with some internal modelling elsewhere in the house and that doesn't include putting the garden right afterwards.

You should be able to ask your solicitors to look specifically for any covenants that might restrict development on the site.

It would be hard to say 100% if you could build an extension on any specific plot of land, so really size, light and how much you might overlook neighbours are all you can go by ahead of a purchase.

Also when you're looking at houses, see what other people have had done on the street, that might give you a good idea of what will be allowed.

As for moving a sink etc - pretty much anything can be moved anywhere, but there is always a cost. Something like some pipework would be minimal though in the grant scheme of an extension.

When you're looking, might be worth mentioning to the EA as they might know - but I'd take anything with a pinch of salt, remember they're trying to sell you something!! Some houses are put on the market with pp in place or say "potential for extending" again, you'd need to do your own due diligence.

Although I've not extended, I've been looking into potential costs and pitfalls and I've formed the opinion that it might be nice to have somewhere with "potential", but I don't want to have to rely on realising that potential to live a comfortable life. E.g. I need 3 bedrooms, so that's what I'm looking for. Not 2 beds with potential for loft conversions or similar.

We've just done this (build signed off as completed last week).
We ended up buying a semi and putting a side extension on (corner plot so slightly bigger plot). There did have to be a certain gap between extension and edge of plot. We also wanted to go out the front to create larger room and porch which there were a few rules about.
When we instructed a surveyor we specifically asked them to look at the possibility of an extension and our specific needs. They gave us a verbal handover of possibilities which was really helpful (including what would not be possible). There had to be enough off road parking for ratio of bedrooms.
Windows had to be of a specific opening in certain rooms.
Ours had a garage attached which is now part of the house - could be something to look into.
We also looked at neighbours property and no one had done what we wanted to do but had done extensions.
Drains were a big issue (but not impossible), also meant moving gas meter and boiler which are added costs to think about.
When we applied for planning permission I took the plans to our neighbours to make them fully aware of what we were doing and why - they were all understanding because we'd been honest and answered their questions. Also when we bought the house it was in need of repair so I think the neighbours were pleased the eye sore was going.
Good luck it's doable.

As above - have a look on the street to see what the neighbours have done. You can look up the street on your local authority's planning website to see what planning applications have been made, look at the layouts, see if any applications have been rejected or withdrawn.

We bought 11 years ago looking to extend (we couldn't afford a "done" house), wasn't a problem getting permission. Just be wary that costs are invariably more than you budget for and its messy and hard work to live through. Also, if you extend in stages, it will be more expensive than extending in one go.

Google earth the address and you will see what others have done in surprising detail. It's updated regularly so should be reasonably current.