Are we making a big mistake?

[Stevie77]

Talk some sense into me and my first world problems.

We’ve been wanting to move for a long time but need to stay in our very immediate area due to elderly relatives and schools - that limits our choice. We sold our house recently and had an offer accepted on another house but we’re now having huge doubts!

We’re in a big 1950s semi that we extended but we need a bigger third bedroom and a spare bedroom due to many visiting relatives. We’ve lived with the sofa in the lounge and it just doesn’t work anymore with WFH. We can further extend our house but it won’t be worth it and really, we want to be detached now.

We’ve offered on a pre-war detached which has been extended downstairs so it’s kind of comparable, but the more we look at it and place our stuff in it based on the measurements, the smaller it looks and it’s really concerning us. I never realised how much space you lose to bay windows! We plan to extend on top of the ground floor extension but I’m so worried we’d have to wait a long time to get a builder, with all the issues currently affecting projects, and that our plans will cost way way more than we accounted for (and it’s based on measured plans my OH has drawn, so not a guesstimate). And in that time my son will be stuffed into a teeny tiny bedroom - for real, it’s the smallest box room that just about fits a single bed.

I’m worried we compromised on the wrong things; the garden is big but faces north-east, same as our current house, but the difference is that it is very overlooked. Not ideal, but I’m ok with that. None of the houses at the back seem to have any plants or trees that screen the view and because it’s near-ish to a corner (it’s the 3rd house from the corner) the houses on the other side of that road also overlook. There’s loads of other minor things, everything is solvable - with time, money and work. I know it. We’re experienced renovators, I know we can do it. But we’re still wracked with doubt.

There’s literally nothing coming on to the market. If we pull, we’ll probably lose our buyers who’re paying us £25k over asking. Can’t risk moving into a rental and getting stuck there due to no suitable stock and the market may keep moving and we’ll price ourselves out.

I just don’t know anymore.

Will your son be in the third bedroom?

Yes. We also have a daughter who’ll be in the second bedroom.

The thing is, another house will be exactly the same. This is just the housing stock here.

Apart from being detached the new house doesn't sound great....and too small....could you reconfigure or extend the current extension? And yes it is likely to cost more ...round us all work prices have escalated and firms are full out!

If the housing stock is all like it would you be better of buying one that's not been extended and just doing a full extension yourself??

How soon will kids be off to uni/leave home as that will influence your space needs too..

The new house being detached is better, why? I don't understand your thinking on that one especially with being overlooked and so on. Trees take a long time to grow or mature ones are expensive.

Is it the same sq ft? You are limited to where you can buy, so is it just what you can afford where you are, and there is no chance of something else coming on the market?

Detached does mean you have more space to extend up/out? Box room for son, not ideal but potentially short lived?

So you are moving from a 3bed to a 3bed?

When you say you plan to extend on top of the current ground floor extension, are you sure that it’s strong enough to support a whole extra floor? Won’t you end up having to rip out the current single story extension and build a double story from scratch?

Why is detached a priority over space? Is it just that the houses available are all similar sizes but some are detached?

I think that if you need a four bed then a three bed isn't the answer. Maybe PPs are right and you would be better looking for a property you can extend as you want it, maybe a two storey extension with an en-suite bedroom for visitors downstairs and a more equally sized bedroom upstairs? Aren't single storey extensions built to take the weight of a single level only, rather than two floors?

I appreciate it's very awkward when you can't look further afield and have to choose from what's currently available!

I'm a bit confused. Why haven't you upsized?

Sorry, school run and kids... I'll try and address everything that's been mentioned.

@averythinline on paper it's around 23 sq.m. bigger than our current house. If we buy one that hasn't been extended at all the total cost will be much higher and the house wouldn't be that much cheaper. The current ground level extension is fine (it's basically a wraparound) and the house as a whole has been renovated in 2012, so there's no electrics or heating system to replace.

The kids are 12 and nearly 8 so we're a way off them leaving home.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz (love the name!) - yes, we're going from a 3 bed to a 3 bed.

@Bunce1 Detached is better because they generally have the space for extensions to be wide enough and there're less planning restrictions.

There's always a chance of something else coming on the market, but there's none we know of. We've already leafleted every suitable house on suitable roads. We've been stalking RM for about 2 years, we know pretty much every house that's been sold. There's only ever been one house that we thought it's been done very well, but ours wasn't ready to go on the market and that house sold very quickly last summer in the big rush. It was also way way over our budget. With this house, we'd get the same in the end for about £100-£150k less because I'm not paying for someone else's extension pain.

@BasementIdeas the vendor says the foundations have been put in to support a first floor extension (in 2012). Building Control have, in all but direct wording, confirmed it to us over email. They'll only give confirmation to the owner so we're going to ask via the solicitors that the owner contacts the inspector and gets a confirmation in writing that this is indeed the case and that the foundations still comply with building regs.

@TheNoodlesIncident correct, all the houses are similar sizes, some are detached (so therefore have the space around them to extend comfortably) and some are semis. We live in a southern suburb of Manchester, there have only been small pockets of house building around here since the big pre-war surge. Choice is very very limited.

We can extend the house in question as we want - once we do that we'd essentially have a 5 bed inc. a master with en-suite and walk in wardrobe, 3 double bedrooms and a small bedroom/study. Downstairs there're already two lounges, a large kitchen diner, toilet, a utility room and a garage.

@bcc89 that is what we're trying to do with this one - extend to upsize. TBH I'd rather do the work myself, I know we'll do a very good job of it and it'll be designed well, as we've done twice before. So many houses around here have badly designed extensions that I just don't want to pay £££ to fix someone else's crap design.

that sounds like a good move. Kids can put up with being in a little box room for a few years.

[quote Stevie77]@bcc89 that is what we're trying to do with this one - extend to upsize. TBH I'd rather do the work myself, I know we'll do a very good job of it and it'll be designed well, as we've done twice before. So many houses around here have badly designed extensions that I just don't want to pay £££ to fix someone else's crap design.[/quote]
Your update makes sense about the area! We're in Manchester area and waited six months for a 5 bed :(

From the way you talk about the house in your update, you’re obviously happy with it so go for it!

Go into the loft in your current house?

You say it wouldn’t be worth it, but net off the enormous costs of selling, buying and moving. EA fees, stamp duty etc etc.

Plus if you extend the home you own the council tax band does not go up to take account if the extra room until you sell to new owners, so you save on running costs.

@Stevie77

Sorry, school run and kids... I'll try and address everything that's been mentioned.

@averythinline on paper it's around 23 sq.m. bigger than our current house. If we buy one that hasn't been extended at all the total cost will be much higher and the house wouldn't be that much cheaper. The current ground level extension is fine (it's basically a wraparound) and the house as a whole has been renovated in 2012, so there's no electrics or heating system to replace.

The kids are 12 and nearly 8 so we're a way off them leaving home.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz (love the name!) - yes, we're going from a 3 bed to a 3 bed.

@Bunce1 Detached is better because they generally have the space for extensions to be wide enough and there're less planning restrictions.

There's always a chance of something else coming on the market, but there's none we know of. We've already leafleted every suitable house on suitable roads. We've been stalking RM for about 2 years, we know pretty much every house that's been sold. There's only ever been one house that we thought it's been done very well, but ours wasn't ready to go on the market and that house sold very quickly last summer in the big rush. It was also way way over our budget. With this house, we'd get the same in the end for about £100-£150k less because I'm not paying for someone else's extension pain.

@BasementIdeas the vendor says the foundations have been put in to support a first floor extension (in 2012). Building Control have, in all but direct wording, confirmed it to us over email. They'll only give confirmation to the owner so we're going to ask via the solicitors that the owner contacts the inspector and gets a confirmation in writing that this is indeed the case and that the foundations still comply with building regs.

@TheNoodlesIncident correct, all the houses are similar sizes, some are detached (so therefore have the space around them to extend comfortably) and some are semis. We live in a southern suburb of Manchester, there have only been small pockets of house building around here since the big pre-war surge. Choice is very very limited.

We can extend the house in question as we want - once we do that we'd essentially have a 5 bed inc. a master with en-suite and walk in wardrobe, 3 double bedrooms and a small bedroom/study. Downstairs there're already two lounges, a large kitchen diner, toilet, a utility room and a garage.

Could your son have the 2nd downstairs lounge as a bedroom until upstairs is complete. If your not comfortable with him downstairs alone could your daughter have it with being older?

It sounds like a house with potential to be what you want just need to live with it in the short term.

It does sound like you are going to incur huge costs for something that isn't significantly bigger/better... could you try and find something else (risking your buyer) or increase how much you can spend (even if this takes a year or two) and make a bigger move?

I doubt it you would lose money if you go into the loft too.

@BasementIdeas

When you say you plan to extend on top of the current ground floor extension, are you sure that it’s strong enough to support a whole extra floor? Won’t you end up having to rip out the current single story extension and build a double story from scratch?

I was thinking exactly the same, it’s not a given you can just build on top of a single story extension.

Thank you everyone! Weirdly, writing it all down has helped