what would you do to this house?

[Namechange466]

We have been looking in SW London/ Surrey for yonks and we’re really priced out of finding the house we ideally wanted - 4 bed, kitchen diner etc.

But we have now had an offer accepted on a house which is in our ideal area and is perfectly liveable and actually lovely inside.

that said it’s significantly under our budget meaning we have about £50k starting to do some works - and potentially up to £100k over the next 2 years. Fully done up 4 bed houses in this area can go for anything from 900k to 1m, if not more -so hopefully we could at least break even but actually add value.

We both work from home a lot, have a toddler and want more children, my mum regularly stays over to help with DC - and my husbands family lives up north and may occasionally visit.

Plus we love a kitchen diner.

This isn’t a mansion. So What would you do to this house knowing all of that and our budget? if needed we could possibly move out for six months

Knocking through the existing kitchen and reception will give you a spacious kitchen diner.

Tweak the upstairs bathroom to incorporate the loo.

Do a loft conversion in a couple of years.

I would ditch the conservatory and have French windows / bifold out into the garden.

I love having a big kitchen/diner/family room. It means I can cook whilst supervising homework or whilst they are playing or watching tv. I do think you need a separate living room so if you have friends over this kids can have their space and the adults yours but you would have this with the living room currently labelled dining room at the front of the house.

Personally and this would cost a hell of a lot more than £50k I would extend the first floor to the side (assuming it's allowed and that the foundations under the ground floor would allow it) to create two new bedrooms upstairs

This is what I'd do too (and more or less what has been done to my 1930s house.

I also thought I would knock down the conservatory and build across the back but having seen the photo, I'd see how usable it is first. I'd want to fit a utility room in somewhere but I can't see where without extending properly across the back. Maybe by reducing the size of the study and shifting the shower room down?

I agree with swapping the living and dining rooms around.

Most of the options that will make the biggest difference re expensive though and probably out of your current budget.

It looks like a 1930s semi detached house thats been extended to the side?

If thats the case, go on Rightmove and look for extended properties. In places like the NW where pre/inter war semis are the main housing stock. you'll see hundreds of examples.

We have a similar property - we've extended where your conservatory is now, double storey for a new bedroom / ensuite (although if it is semi-detached, you'll probably have to come in 2m from your adjoined neighbour on the 1st floor) and re-jig either the bathroom or the wall of the back bedroom to make a corridor to access the new bedroom. On the ground floor, I would keep the lounge / study etc but make the rest open plan & have pocket doors between the reception room and the extension so you can use the reception room as a playroom but shut it off in the evening if you prefer.

I'd also convert the downstairs bathroom to a utility.

Definitely live in it a bit before you make any changes. You might find that some of the things you think are weird actually really suit your family. Also the downstairs study with shower room and loo will be really useful as your parents get older and can't manage stairs.

It sounds like you the house is in a typical road full of identical ones.
Have a look at council planning website where you can find out what sort of building work neighbours have done in past few years. You should be able to look at detailed plans.
You check out which nearby houses have done loft extensions by looking for dormers or velux windows (some of which might only be visible from the back)

With an extension the options are endless.
Without an extension, I'd measure how much room you'd have if the upstairs toilet was knocked into the bathroom - would there be enough to form a family bathroom opening to the landing, and a small en-suite to the back bedroom.
Then I'd consider the usefulness of the downstairs shower room as it is. I'm envisaging getting rid and dividing that area, plus the existing toilet area into two, one opening from the hall, one from the kitchen. From the hall, Have a small cloaks lobby leading into the downstairs toilet, from the kitchen a laundry/dishwasher area (it may be too small to call a utility room). That gets rid of all your noisy white goods and opens up the possibility of knocking through across the back to have an open plan kitchen/diner/family/coffee/gathering area.
I don't like open plan where you may be sitting in the coffee nook having a civilised coffee only to have to shout over the noise of the washing machine.
You still have a good room at the front as a snug/grown up sitting room, and the study as an office/playroom/tv room.

@Avarua

I'd wait for a bit. Often when you move into a new place unexpected stuff comes up that the seller didn't disclose (holes in roof, dodgy boiler, peeling lino). Wait and observe the sun, where it goes.

In the meantime maybe spend a thousand or so on a nice new rug or new front door or bit of furniture or repainted front entrance hall. Something that spruces up the property's first impression and makes you proud to call this place home.

Long term, double story extension as pp noted.

I agree. I would definitely wait a little bit because you will most probably find that there are issues with the house which may need immediate attention. Also , your budget of 50k will definitely not suffice. Tradesmen will tell you that prices have gone through the roof. Our electrician has complained about the price of cable The only issue with waiting to get things done is that you will probably be in the house when work is being done which is often difficult .

My kitchen diner extension was 3m x 5m at the back. It cost about £55k including a new kitchen. Some nice bits like quartz worktops and professional painters but the kitchen itself was a bog standard DIY kitchens one. That was just before Covid and prices have gone up since then. I'm an hour north of London so probably a cheaper area for building work than yours.

I love these houses, and they work so well with a big kitchen diner at the back.

I'd have a look at Rightmove sold listings for what other people have done for some inspiration... These type of houses tend to be grouped together so it's pretty easy to search on specific roads or areas. I'd live in it as is for a bit to get a feel for how the space works and save up then prioritise knocking down conservatory and creating a big kitchen diner and utility downstairs.

I like this one though I'd have the utility in the middle not by the garden www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=75496523&sale=9326554&country=england

Loft conversion could be done several years down the line if needed if you have several kids

@PosiePerkinPootleFlump strangely that house is in the area we moved from on the other side of London!! small world

but agreed that’s a beautiful house - so nicely done

i dont understand people that make the kitchen and playroom part of the same big open plan space! it means you cant go off to put washing away etc and leave the toddlers to play as will need to be supervised at all times in the kitchen!
With a separate playroom you can make sure it is childproofed, can close the door on the mess (min liked to make elaborate train tracks etc all over the floor and would want to leave them out for days plus as they have got older it can become a teen den where they watch tv/play on consoles etc.

We have a lounge/diner, kitchen, large conservatory which has kids tv etc at one end and the utility stuff at the other plus a study and a downstairs wet room. it works really well as we can all be in different rooms doing different things without disturbing each other. if I could rejug i would prefer a kitchen/diner and a seperate utility room.

@PosiePerkinPootleFlump

I love these houses, and they work so well with a big kitchen diner at the back.

I'd have a look at Rightmove sold listings for what other people have done for some inspiration... These type of houses tend to be grouped together so it's pretty easy to search on specific roads or areas. I'd live in it as is for a bit to get a feel for how the space works and save up then prioritise knocking down conservatory and creating a big kitchen diner and utility downstairs.

I like this one though I'd have the utility in the middle not by the garden www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=75496523&sale=9326554&country=england

Loft conversion could be done several years down the line if needed if you have several kids

The link is not working for me, would you be able to post again, please?

I commented earlier on this thread, and only came back to say I love the type of house you have bought OP due to the room dimensions and sturdiness, and that I can tell it will be gorgeous when you've finished the works!

@Namechange466

Thanks all for all the great ideas so far! Feel like our house has potential which is great. I suppose we could try and do work in phases and refinance as needed to pull out funds so no rush.

There are also some points that I didn’t think about before - converting the downstairs bathroom to a utility and that kids like their own spaces to game/socialise as they get older so maybe a cavernous family room isn’t always the best idea. lots to mull over

Even if you can't afford it immediately, I'd think about what you want to do regarding downstairs loo/utility/bootroom area when you're designing the kitchen/diner to leave space for it. In the short-term, you could build in a large storage cupboard or larder space into the kitchen/diner that you could then expand into later if you decide to convert the downstairs shower room into a large utility.

If you put a small study into the loft conversion, the current study could become a kids lounge/gaming room when your children are older.

That conservatory is absolutely fabulous , I do not know why there's such a downer on them !

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

That conservatory is absolutely fabulous , I do not know why there's such a downer on them !

It's the "too hot in summer, too cold in winter" scenario. You won't know whether it suffers like this until you've lived with it.

I would add a loft. And then make the rear reception the dining room and open it up into the kitchen. Depending on orientation of the house I would open up the wall between the kitchen and rear reception and move the kitchen into the large rear reception (making sure there's nothing along the walls if poss).Then when you have more money knock down the conservatory and replace with an extension across the back and tweak the space to include lounge space / play area / whatever. Second bathroom goes in when you do the loft. Lots of people round here nick space from the garage to put in a utility too. Not sure you'd manage that on £100k as well though