Funding Home Improvements- how did you do it?

[rachelvbwho]

Hey all,

We bought our house 8 years ago and everything was in reasonable condition, we knew that the kitchen and bathroom would need replacing EVENTUALLY but they were perfectly OK and usable.

Over the past 8 years life has got away with us - wedding, careers, 2 kids etc- and home improvements haven't really been on our radar, aside from cosmetic things such as redecorating.

This past year we have replaced all the windows and front door but it is becoming apparent that we do need a new kitchen and bathroom (and ideally replace the conservatory roof with something more lightweight/thermal suitable).

The thing is how on earth do people afford to do these big 'improvements' on their house?

We have about 5k saved but it will obviously be more than that for all the things we need doing!

Do you just save save save until you have 20k+? Take out a loan? Remortgage the house? It just seems so overwhelming to me (this I our first home).

My guesstimations for the cost of things is 5k bathroom, 5k conservatory roof, 10k kitchen... So I may even be WAAAYYY off there too!

Sorry for the long post and all the questions I feel very overwhelmed with all that we now need to do with the house and I have nobody to ask!

We saved it but while interest rates are low it’s not a bad time to borrow at all. Could you add it to mortgage?

I do suspect your estimates are on the low side though

Loans, mortgages, inheritance and 2nd jobs - that's how we got mortgage free and built an extension with extra bedroom.
We didn't "move up" on the property ladder and choose to make our modest semi into a debt free forever home.

Your house will probably have increased in value in the last 8 years, so you may be able to borrow more on your mortgage and still have a good loan to value. It would of course increase your monthly repayments, but will be a lower interest rate than a loan

We are in a similar position and are just starting to pick things off the list now having lived here for 6 years. I'm going with 1 big thing (Bathroom first at about £8k) then a few smaller things- boiler, gutters and hopefully a bit of plastering. Next year will be a new list. It's a bit like painting the Forth bridge though.

Glad to know we aren't the only ones @rhubarbandMustard!

We also did the boiler last year.... Perks of home ownership eh?

rachelvbwho I had my bathroom and en suite done early last year (pre Covid) and budgeted £5k each. didn't have anything spectacularly grand done, no fancy units, basic tiles etc but the total cost came in at just under £8k each. I think you are being optimistic in trying to get it done for £5k. I used some money left over from selling my old house that I had earmarked for home improvements on this one - it was £25k which I thought would do carpets, curtains/blinds, bathroom, en suite, kitchen AND have some left over for me. I've repainted my kitchen units but need to repaint them already plus renew the flooring. I can't extend my mortgage due to my age and have no spare money at the end of each month to put away for savings or to repay a loan. Not sure what I'm going to do

Oh yes I had to replace my boiler too!

We save and then use the savings, but we are in a fortunate position to be able to do that. Having said that, we desperately need out living room redoing and haven't got the funds for that at the moment.

Several friends of mine regularly replace kitchens, bathrooms, cars etc. I wondered how they managed until I realised they all work in well paid private sector jobs where they get £10k+ bonuses most years. I work in Local Government and DH works for a charity so we've never had a bonus.

I moved into a house that needed some work. Saved, for 2 years, then covid hit and savings took a battering.

Then at the back end of last I got a promotion with a big rise. Now I am doing it as I go. Saving for the next job. Getting it done and saving again.

So listed the jobs in order of importance. Save, do it.

I have got quotes as I have gone on. I usually have quotes for the job I am saving for next and the next one. But the quotes can change. Materials are getting harder to get and more expensive

I started with the roof. It's a mid terrace so wasn't a huge job. Had my front door done. Getting the downstairs windows and bathroom done this month.

Then I have booked to have fitted wardrobes done in November.

Then next year it will be the kitchen and upstairs windows. I also use smaller local companies which has saved me quite a bit. I saved over 2k on my roof. The windows are costing me half of the big companies quotes.

The people doing the wardrobes are also doing the kitchen and pantry out, so have given me a substantial discount on both.