Kitchen renovation - yes or no?

[depp1020]

Hi

We have been in our property for almost five years and we had always planned on knocking through from the kitchen into one of the reception rooms to create a large kitchen space. We would still have two other reception rooms which we currently use as a sitting room and playroom.

Although we love the space that the house offers and its location, we are on a main road and and the garden is a good size but not huge. This was meant to be our long term house but I have struggled with the road noise - sometimes I feel like I can live with it but at other times I struggle with it. We have made the decision to move but we are unsure whether to do so straight away with the house as it currently is or whether to get the wall knocked down and the kitchen renovated. The reason we are considering holding off the move is because I am pregnant (very early days) and I don’t know how realistic it would be to find somewhere else within the next several months and get our house sold. We have a very narrow area where we would want to move to.

If we get the house sorted then we’ll realistically end up staying for another couple of years but honestly I’d move tomorrow if the right property came up for sale. Also, our daughter moved schools due to an issue that arose and we no longer walk to school but if we moved then it would be within walking distance of her current school.

We have the kitchen design and know which company we would use but still can’t decide whether to go ahead. Any advice would be most welcome.

Would the cost of the work be less than the extra profit you'd make on the sale of the house? Are there any houses on the market in the area you'd like?
It's very hard to say but I'd watch the market and if properties are coming up in that area then I'd look to move asap

I wouldnt bother and would just sell as is and move now/next summer.

How realistic it would be to move would depend on local factors so its hard to say really.
You only need 1 buyer to buy your house and you only need one house to move into. But are those two things going to come up?
There is nothing to stop you from giving it a go. Are houses coming up you would be interested in going for?
The kinds of reservations you have about your current house are not going to be improved by a kitchen renovation, however lovely that is. The road noise will still be there and the school will still be somewhere else, so you will probably still have this itch to move if that is what is annoying you.
Plus I would not want to live through a renovation with a new baby or toddler present. Would you finish that before the new baby arrives or is it likely to drag on for longer?

Thanks for your response, Row1n. I don’t think we would lose money on the renovation but it’s hard to say how much value it would add. It would make the house more saleable though. I know several people that have created a similar open living space to include an island, dining and seating area and it really does create a wow factor. I always felt it was the one thing missing in the house as it is a decent sized property.

I have been looking online for a while and the odd house has come up for sale but, with the exception of one, they all require work as the properties are older. Normally, that would be fine but I’m concerned that in the current situation we won’t be in a position to do any work straight away. Would it be better to stay put for the next couple of years and create the space we would like to live in? I’m concerned that if we don’t get the kitchen renovated now then it will never happen as events will take over and we’ll still end up selling the house but living in it in the same way we’ve been doing for almost five years.

Leave well alone if its clean and decent enough.
I was delighted that the house I bought wanted a wall knocking down and a new kitchen; it's a terrible feeling to view a house with a new kitchen that you hate and realise you can't justify ripping it out for 10 years so you've to live with something you hate.

Just seen the updates. Yes, your are right that we will still want to move and we have made the decision to do so. We could spend a few weeks sorting the house out and put it up for sale but there’s no guarantee that a house would come up for sale. It’s just a handful of roads that we are considering moving to. I thought that if we went ahead with the kitchen renovation then when a property we like does come up we would be in a better position to sell ours but in the meantime we would be living in a space that we could enjoy. The plan would be to contact the kitchen company and start the renovation ASAP.

I would rather buy a house that needed the work than a house which had been done but not to my taste. Leave it and say to buyers it's a possible job and the cost would be £x

Thank you for your insight, Gardenwalldilema. The house is still saleable as it is. As the house currently stands, it has a kitchen diner so still a decent space and although the third reception room is pretty redundant to us, it could be very useful for another family.

@depp1020 most families would want a sitting room and a playroom, so the 3rd reception is a definite bonus, and lots would envisage it as a home office, definitely leave well alone imo.

Worth bearing in mind that a lot of builders (particularly the good ones!) are booked months in advance at the moment, so it may be 6/9 months before the knocking through and kitchen renovation can begin.

In your situation I would probably start looking to move. If you're looking in a narrow area, it's always going to be a challenge, but at least if your house is on the market/ready to market you'll be in a better situation than if a house comes up mid kitchen renovation.

And in my opinion @Sarcobaleno is right, most people want to put their stamp on a house as long as the bricks and mortar are solid!

Oh and for context, we are moving into a house which requires work on Friday and our baby is due next Tuesday! So I've had a lot of similar thoughts to you recently.

The house already has a separate study so it really did feel like the third reception room would be better utilised as part of an open plan kitchen area. But the overwhelming response seems to be to leave the house as it is if we plan on moving anyway.

Congratulations on the baby and the house, Andthenanothercupoftea, and thank you for sharing your insights.

Would triple glazing at the front make any difference to you?

We had the windows changed very soon after we moved into the property. There was a huge improvement but the road noise is still there. Sometimes it bothers me and at other times I don’t notice it. It’s definitely worse when it rains. We will definitely be moving at some point but my concern is that if we put the house up for sale soon, I’m not sure of the likelihood of us selling the property and finding a house in the space of several months. If everything goes well with the pregnancy then it will totally take over our lives for at least the first year. It’s not a time when I would want to be in the middle of selling a house and moving into a new one - and most likely a property that will require considerable work. I was considered a geriatric mother when I had my daughter and that was several years ago so we would definitely be considered older parents this time around. My thinking was that although I am very keen to move (my husband is indifferent but is fine with moving), it would be better to stay in the comfort of our own home for possibly the next two years and finally carry out the work we had originally planned to do. We’ve managed almost five years in the house so another two wouldn’t feel like such a hardship.

Maybe find a cheap architect/designer to draw up your plans and use those to help market the sale? As some people are really only looking for big open plan spaces, but some would want to do things their own way - having a drawing to show the plans would open up your potential pool of buyers.

Its a tricky situation. Throw in covid delays for getting builders, and also things are costing a huge amount more atm because of shortages. So it doesn't seem like the best time to do any unnecessary building work atm anyway.