Hi all
I’d appreciate some thoughts on from you wise mumsnetters on the below if possible - have attached floor plan.
- moved into 1930s semi in suburban London in Summer. Have two DDs (3.5 and 2 weeks).
- downstairs floor space is more than enough for now as conservatory is large, well made and isn’t too hot/cold. Long term we will do a kitchen diner but not an immediate priority
- the study is also used as a single guest bedroom for my mum when she stays.
- our issue is mainly lack of upstairs living space and lack of clothes storage- there are two large doubles and a box room. Fine for now but not great long term or for guests (my husbands family live in Scotland and want to visit more). So a couple of questions if ok:
-my issue with upstairs is we have a tiny box room so it won’t work as our children get older, no real space for guests and no storage for us in our bedroom due to the small alcoves and bay window.
-we could extend over the ground side extension but the space would be small and the work expensive. So a loft conversion makes the most sense.
— for a loft, we would need to take out about £40k from our mortgage (full quote £65k inc vat for completed job). Is it worth doing this work now with the impending higher interest rate on this amount and also mortgages generally - we need to remortgage in summer 2024 and are currently sitting pretty on a 1.5% rate. If we do the work we would add two bedrooms and there would be a definite value increase - potentially £100-150k or so given our area. But we would have borrowed more which does mean more interest. This js our long term house and I genuinely feel like a loft conversion would bring more calm and order to our household!
-the £65k inc vat is for completed job. Should we look into quotes for shell and core - and then we can do the other jobs over a year or so and save money?
-as above we have obtained some quotes. Most suggest that the loft would consist of a large master/en-suite, a separate single/study and storage space near/in the eaves. That works for us as we don’t have any storage on the first floor - would need to install some fitted wardrobes in our master bedroom otherwise but storage would always be limited due to the bay window.
-but if we go ahead do you think a master and single is better or actually two smaller doubles (so for guests or our two daughters when they are older)?
thanks so much.