Side return extn London - reasonable cost!?

[GreenestValley]

Looking for advice from people who have recently done renovations in London...

Standard 3 bed terrace in north London, the usual layout with living room at front / dining room / kitchen at the back.. We want the side return extended to bring more space and light into the kitchen, but keeping the length the same - not going further into.

Architect drew a range of plans up - my preference was to keep the back room the kitchen, create a window between dining room and kitchen, open up slightly between living room and dining room (possible doors or some other orifice).

This plan was coming in at 90-100k before architect fees and the kitchen itself.

Understand that side returns are more complex because of drains etc, but this feels extremely high. I was expecting more 70-80.

still, i'm aware costs have gone up recently! don't want to get a second opinion if this is in fact just par for the course, so some opinions from those with experience of similar projects recently would be v v helpful!

We're at the end of a side return and builders quotes last year ranged from £60-90k. I would expect to be paying £80-100k this year. Luckily we had a fixed quote.

I would be surprised if it came in under 100k with vat but no kitchen

That seems on the high side - we are paying 82k for something more elaborate (side return including rebuilding the previous kitchen extension) and the other quotes we had were in the same range (75-85k)

Ours includes the architect but not the kitchen itself

Interesting. Any chance you could PM me your architect details? (If you recommend them!)

@Classicblunder

@GreenestValley

Interesting. Any chance you could PM me your architect details? (If you recommend them!)

Will message you though we are in South London so not sure if they will cover your area

What is the architect basing the quote on? Don’t you need a builder to give something more accurate? If they are just giving ballpark for the time being I would be extremely cautious. As you noted costs have gone up massively recently. We still have a few minor things that need finishing from our building works and our builder is currently really struggling for staff and supplies. They are going to have to start to pay considerably more for labour to hang
onto it.

North London here, doing side return at the moment, plus some decoration (not structural) to other parts of the house. £100k for build costs, not including VAT, is about right for a good builder. Had this confirmed by a surveyor friend recently.

Materials costs have shot up in the last year, timber and steel in particular, and lots of people (anecdotally) seem to be experiencing delays on glass.

Our build is coming in on schedule (currently on week 8 out of 13) but a few things won't be fitted until the new year due to supply issues.

We are not having a fancy extension at all, and it's costing about double what I thought it would when we started talking about it in 2018!

similar - I had expected £80k fish
Builder quote for side return without decoration / kitchen/ paint /tiles etc £100k plus Vat and kitchen and fees (Architect, structural engineer, building controller, party wall etc) looking like £150k in the end for nice kitchen, fees and decor / finishes. We have had a lot of roof lights / ultra slim sliding doors etc that we cold have gone cheaper on but thought if you're going for it do it right - but we have felt so reassured by having a decent trustworthy recommended builder