Please share your retrofitting and loft conversion experiences

[srslybaffled]

I know we'll want/need to be insulating our home and installing a more energy efficient boiler in the years to come. However we live in a small-ish 3-bed period terrace - no way can we slap 10cm of insulation on the walls, and we've no space for a ground source heat pump boiler.

We know within 5 years we'll want a 4-bed, whether that's via a move or a loft conversion.

New builds aren't my cup of tea and in the area we live it's mostly homes built between 1900-1960.

Has anyone retrofitted their older home? How effective has it been? How big and what age/type is your house? Please share your wisdom!

Also, those of you who have converted the loft on your terrace - worth it? Or actually feel you still need more space? Ideally would do a side return but there are two manholes and even if that could be overcome I think it would make the downstairs really dark 😬

Added a loft conversion to our terrace several years ago and it was definitely worth it. It’s a really big room and makes a lovely bedroom. We did check with an estate agent first re the value of doing it. It is however a big job and not cheap as they have to lower ceilings etc. One of my neighbours is currently doing theirs and it’s costing about £45k just for the conversion, not counting all the redecorating etc when the building is done.

My house is 1890, was 2 beds with cellar conversion. Now theoretically 4 beds over 4 floors. Really good loft insulation and a very large and efficient boiler make the house quite energy efficient.