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Extension to rear - should we wait it out?

44 replies

EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 16:22

Hi!

very new to the world of extensions so please bear with me.

we have a period house and on the back there’s a minting, cold, damp single storey extension. You need to walk through this dark little hovel every time you want to get into the back garden. It’s only half the wide of the back of the house.

We would like to knock on down and build a much nicer single storey extension , almost the full width of the back of the house… with French or bifold doors. This would also turn our kitchen into a kitchen Diner. The kitchen itself is find and would basically stay as is - don’t need a new one.

my husbands income has gone up since we bought the house and I have returned to work…. We can borrow quite a bit more than we are already. Our mortgage is around 150k atm , 5 years fixed at a good rate (3 years left to go). I think we can actually borrow up to £320k.

if it wasn’t for the crazy prices of extensions/ building materials we would be looking to remortgage for a larger amount and redo the rear extension, to get the benefit of it now (we have young children and the space and easier garden access would be so lovely).

now I’m thinking it’s madness to do it now… pay inflated building prices and lose our good interest rate. And we should wait it out…. But then things might not improve for ages and we are still stuck with what we’ve got.

we could spend a small amount insulating, skimming and putting some nicer flooring down in the current rear extension (and maybe look for a second hand composite door to replace the thin draughty timber one that’s currently on there). Maybe that would make it more bearable for the next couple of years. But then again it’s money down the toilet if the economy improves sooner than expected and we knock the whole lot down.

in case it’s relevant, we live in southern rural Scotland and the new extension would be around 9-10 square meters.

what would you all do?

thank you!

OP posts:
EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 16:23

Minting = minging!

OP posts:
EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 16:23

(Apologies for typos 🙈) bloody iPhone

OP posts:
EL0ISE · 29/12/2022 16:27

can I just check the size? It will go across the whole of the back of the house but only be 9m2?

Nestofcrowes · 29/12/2022 16:30

We’re in the exact same position and really dithering what to do! I think we’ll probably wait it out and just paint/put down a nicer but still cheap lino. It’s tricky - would love better access to the garden, which currently feels really closed off.

watchfulwishes · 29/12/2022 16:31

I'd need to know a) how much it will cost and b) how much value I think. I'd lean towards waiting, personally.

EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 16:31

Yea that’s right as it won’t be very deep , and some of the back of the house is taken up by a huge stair case that juts out .

the back of our house is a strange shape… and is different to the front.

it would really only be extending one room into the garden (the kitchen - which is 4m by 3m currently). Can add floor plan if that helps.

OP posts:
EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 16:32

We really just want

  • to get rid of the vile current extension
  • a kitchen diner that’s a bit bigger than what we’ve got , and has access directly to the patio
OP posts:
DogGreen · 29/12/2022 16:36

I'm of the belief that if you can afford it you need to do work like this when you want to do it rather than as an investment/ the optimum time. There's always a 'what if' with projects like this.

Ask yourselves 'how will this improve our lives now'. If you get a positive feeling when you discuss the options then go for it.

EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 16:40

@Nestofcrowes exactly - I can currently see the garden out of a small kitchen window but then have to walk through one internal door , into the horrible corridor like extension, then through the back door , then turn a corner to be in/facing the garden. I just want to walk right out into it and be able to see properly from the kitchen … and have a decent dining area in the kitchen.

im at the point of contacting an architect to get some kind of basic plan drawn up and getting quotes… but from what I’ve been reading online about spiralling costs I’m starting to feel like I’m just wasting my time / it’s better just to polish the current turd.

our house is currently worth about 300k and I do feel improving the kitchen / back of the house would add a lot of value (because it’s so naff currently). I’d be guessing at how much though.

hmmmm.

OP posts:
ThorsBedazzler · 29/12/2022 16:40

If you are doing building work, I'd go for as big as you are happy with rather than as small as possible - the upheaval will be the same.

I would do it ASAP as you need it. Look at the financials - can you go with existing mortgage provider and get the additional amount on a different fixed rate and keep the original on the original mortgage?

Figure out how much the extra will cost and use that to help figure out how big the extension can be.

We've just moved and managed to keep original mortgage then the extra on the (higher!) Rate. We should have moved a few years ago to be honest, but glad we have now.

I think material costs and labour etc always go up. So leaving it a year or more may let you save more but it could be a false economy if costs go up too.

Chasingsquirrels · 29/12/2022 16:40

Yes everything is expensive at the moment, but will ot actually get cheaper or will the rate of increase just get slower?

I'm not claiming to have an answer to that, it might be that building costs will fall - who knows.

If this will improve your lives, and you can afford it, then I'd seriously consider it.

EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 16:42

can you go with existing mortgage provider and get the additional amount on a different fixed rate and keep the original on the original mortgage?

this has not occurred to me at all - I will ask! Thank you

OP posts:
Londongent · 29/12/2022 16:42

Additional borrowing with your existing mortgage lender shouldn't change the rate on your current mortgage. The additional lending would be at a higher rate though.

EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 16:45

Thanks @Londongent this is good news. We use a broker so I’ll email him now.

OP posts:
tinselvestsparklepants · 29/12/2022 16:54

We are just about to do this and are going with the "it'll be nicer to live here" argument. It May or may not cost less in a few years, but I WILL be able to walk through the kitchen into the garden by the summer if we just get in with it now.

Schoolchoicesucks · 29/12/2022 16:59

Londongent · 29/12/2022 16:42

Additional borrowing with your existing mortgage lender shouldn't change the rate on your current mortgage. The additional lending would be at a higher rate though.

Yes, we now have 3 different mortgages due to doing this to keep the original "good" rate.

If you can afford to do the work now, do it and get the use out of it. Yes there may be a bubble now in both costs and rates, but I think it is unlikely that either will drop back to what they were 2-3 years ago.

Nestofcrowes · 29/12/2022 16:59

@EezyOozy We had a design drawn up (ended up not being as technical as I thought it would be unfortunately so some builders haven’t been able to use it to quite annoyingly). We’re hoping it will be a timber framed extension, and have a quote from a timber frame company to design, construct and put up for £10k. I can’t see the ground work and electrics/plastering etc. being any less than £30k overall. That’s for around a 20sq m extension (we’re in the North East).

That’s interesting to hear about the different rates for adding on to the mortgage, I hadn’t realised that either.

I think the only thing that would swing us towards doing the extension soon would be if our crappy current flat roof extension would need fixing up (there are suspicious stains and cracks on the ceiling so it’s not outside the realms of possibility). As my DH is a bit battle scarred and weary after a year of house renovations already!

watchfulwishes · 29/12/2022 17:11

Chasingsquirrels · 29/12/2022 16:40

Yes everything is expensive at the moment, but will ot actually get cheaper or will the rate of increase just get slower?

I'm not claiming to have an answer to that, it might be that building costs will fall - who knows.

If this will improve your lives, and you can afford it, then I'd seriously consider it.

We are entering the start of recession so demand is expected to fall, and inflation is expected to ease off - but no one can predict the future, obviously.

My personal opinion is we are in an acute phase of unavailable materials.

jevoudrais · 29/12/2022 17:15

Londongent · 29/12/2022 16:42

Additional borrowing with your existing mortgage lender shouldn't change the rate on your current mortgage. The additional lending would be at a higher rate though.

We did this when we moved house. Helpful, but a couple of points to note:

If your first part of the fixed mortgage expires and you have a couple of years left on the other one, you are effectively forced to stay with the existing lender and remortgage to them each time. The only way out of this is to go on SVR on one part until the other part comes up for renewal, and then look for a new lender. OR to cough up an ERC on the but not yet up for renewal, enabling you to then move.

We found that no lender would remortgage one chunk of the mortgage. It was all of it or none of it.

Londongent · 29/12/2022 17:34

jevoudrais · 29/12/2022 17:15

We did this when we moved house. Helpful, but a couple of points to note:

If your first part of the fixed mortgage expires and you have a couple of years left on the other one, you are effectively forced to stay with the existing lender and remortgage to them each time. The only way out of this is to go on SVR on one part until the other part comes up for renewal, and then look for a new lender. OR to cough up an ERC on the but not yet up for renewal, enabling you to then move.

We found that no lender would remortgage one chunk of the mortgage. It was all of it or none of it.

Yes, or have the deal of your additional borrowing end at the same time as your current mortgage deal.
This is what I did when I required additional lending, but I did this at the same time as remortgaging so was easy to do. Also went direct to the bank rather than using a broker.

mondaytosunday · 29/12/2022 17:40

Its about £3k a Sq/m now, and I don't see builders' prices coming down soon (do they ever come down)?
It sounds small but it can make a huge improvement to your lives. Imagine another summer like last year with the doors wide open and you effortlessly drifting in and out.

EezyOozy · 29/12/2022 17:55

Thanks so much everyone. I’ve emailed our mortgage broker - he is excellent so I look forward to his advice. I’ve contacted an architect and waiting to hear back. There’s a building firm based in our village so I might get the bloke over for a neb. I’ll update when I have quotes etc ….

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 29/12/2022 17:58

We did this in 2019 and wish so much that we had done it earlier when the kids were younger so i would say don't delay as it does improve quality of life so much. I doubt costs will come down significantly. With house prices as they are young people cannot buy their own homes so there will be no let up in people wanting to extend.

iwantabreakfastpantry · 29/12/2022 18:04

We are out to tender and were wondering what to do, much like you, OP and we have decided to go for it. Who knows what the future holds and our children are junior school age and pre-teen so time is ticking.

Ideally, we would have done our works a
couple of years ago but our salaries were lower then. We have been squirreling our money away and we will borrow the remainder with our current provider - we fortuitously fixed for 5y in April and, as PP said, only additional loan will be on the new rate.

reallyhatewinter · 29/12/2022 18:09

Depending on demand it could be very hard to get a builder. Where we are, SW, I know numerous friends who have struggled to get builders. One has been waiting a year. Materials are also quite hard to get hold of also which will put the price up considerably. That said, I'm a big believer that money is not wasted on a house if you love living in it.