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Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

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Original poster

buy new build, or renovate current house??

32 replies

butteriesplease · 03/02/2023 11:17

so, we have lived in our house since 2003. We are a family of 5 in a 3 bed semi and would like an extra bedroom - kids are pretty big, 2 have to share, and DH and me work from home mostly so space for desks would be good.

Our current house is an ex council, in an ok area. We are swithering between converting the loft, and doing a full renovation (we haven't been able to afford to much in the house since we moved in and put a bathroom, kitchen and did decorating). I think that this would use most of our savings (we have around £80K due to an inheritance of mine). We'd need a loft conversion, new windows, new kitchen, new bathroom, an all rooms stripped and decorated. Plus front garden converted to a drive possibly...

OR - there are new builds very near us. We want to stay in this area. However, a 4 bed (flooring not included!) would mean a mortgage more than x3 what we pay now, and using most of our savings to go towards a deposit.

Is it worth it?? would it be total madness? new mortgage would be possible, but a stretch and with kids getting bigger and heading to uni/college whatever, would want to be able to support them etc, plus not worrying about bills...

we are going round in circles!

I've been in the house on the plot we would be most interested in, and it's lovely (but very open plan), not sure bedrooms are much bigger, but there is 'more' house overall, and obv it's really well finished and energy efficient etc. The sales team are going to let me know if part-exchange is possible, or 'assisted selling'.

If it matters, we are early 50s, so looking at a 15 year mortgage max.

summary: get big mortgage and use savings for shiny new house in a nicer street, or just renovate where we are (no new mortgage required).

OP posts:

midgetastic · 03/02/2023 11:26

Early 50s - when do the children start to leave?

80k sounds light for all the changes you want to make but I would guess you could get mortgage/ loan for less than you would need for the new house - which will always require a few grand of extra stuff ( units that don't fit , garden ... )

orangegato · 03/02/2023 11:29

Renovate. With new builds check weird covenants (think not allowed to park vans, hang washing and change windows or doors etc) and service charge/maintenance fees. The sales teams are slimy and not transparent about these things.

Namechanger355 · 03/02/2023 11:33

renovate and be financially free sooner

tallrectangle · 03/02/2023 17:06

renovate (although £80K may not cover everything you've mentioned). If the kids are soon to leave the house then maybe there isn't a point in stretching yourself x3 more financially for an extra bedroom, unless you wanted to buy because you aren't happy with the current house and location in general

I guess, also depends what is 3x more mortgage... £200x3=600 or £800x3=2400

closingscore · 03/02/2023 17:08

Well judging by what a friend of mine is going through with her new build, I'd stay put and renovate!

GreenBiscuitr · 03/02/2023 17:14

New builds are an effing nightmare with snagging & their paperthin walls & restrictive covenants. But 80k doesn't seem enough to do everything on your bucket-list. New builds devalue after the first sale. I think I'd stay put.

Spendonsend · 03/02/2023 17:25

I know a few people who moved to big family homes just in time for their children to leave. Be careful not to be paying a big mortgage on an empty nest.

EdiePotts · 03/02/2023 17:30

Renovate

WaddleAway · 03/02/2023 17:32

I would say renovate, but also check your numbers. £80k sounds low for all the things you’ve mentioned.

Sprig1 · 03/02/2023 17:32

Definitely renovate.

RidingMyBike · 03/02/2023 17:59

Renovate but you'll need about double your budget to get done what you want to change! But that might still be cheaper than taking out a huge new mortgage?

moodymary · 03/02/2023 18:57

Another vote to renovate.
New builds are often on small plots/overlooked and often have ongoing snagging issues. If it’s part of a big development, I’d also be worried about re-sale value. Also bear in mind the show home will have been dressed and staged so compare the sq footage to what you have and see if it’s priced well for the area you are in compared to your current home.
I agree the budget sounds tight to do everything you’d like to though..

sst1234 · 04/02/2023 14:42

You should renovate but you will need to scale back you plans or double your budget. £80k will not cover everything.

RM2013 · 04/02/2023 15:02

We considered renovating but knew we would need a much bigger budget for what we wanted to do - probably a 2 storey extension to get bigger bedrooms and extra bathroom(s) as we were struggling with 3 small beds and only 1 bathroom now the kids are teens.

the cost of the extension wasn’t doable for us - we did look at new builds but were £££ to get the space we needed. We did end up moving but bought a newer build and we are now in a better location and we’ve got the extra space we need.

moving house was stressful though!!

Original poster

butteriesplease · 04/02/2023 16:54

Thanks for all the responses. Seems the hive mind reckons renovate, but requiring more £ .
Someone asked about mortgage increase - would be going from £420pcm to prob around £1400 (depending on final value of current house). 5 years left on mortgage. We certainly don't have €1k leftover each month..!

Somebody else asked about ages of kids- 18, 15, 10.

Dh was originally very in favour of renovate but now says loft conversion would be too disruptive...
I think renovate would be overall cheaper even if we borrowed £80k on top of savings. So might be smarter thing to do.

OP posts:

ApolloandDaphne · 04/02/2023 17:05

It's not worth upping your mortgage when in 5-10 years you may not have any children left living at home.

ALeapOfFaith · 04/02/2023 17:11

It depends on how quickly you think you could get the work you want done.

Planning permission, finding builders and actually having the work completed can be a long process and building work is disruptive and miserable if you're living there at the same time.

Given the ages of your children, you could be spending their last few years at home before leaving for uni on a building site.

BigotSpigot · 04/02/2023 17:12

Definitely renovate if you are happy in the area, with good neighbours etc. A loft conversion can actually be pretty uncomplicated and not very disruptive if they do it from the outside. They only need to knock through at the end so perhaps you would have a couple of weeks which were difficult.

Loft conversions are also one of the cheapest things you can do to create more space and therefore add value to your house (of course this depends on the price per sq ft where you are) especially compared with extensions and stamp duty if you move. New builds are notorious for having problems and of course often lose value as soon as you have bought them (which might be an even bigger problem in a falling market).

Do new windows now (for the energy saving) and the kitchen and do everything else when you have more money, leaving the drive until last. Also consider whether you could put in a garden office. Very cheap and again adds value to the house and would mean you have a quiet space while everything else is going on.

BlueMongoose · 04/02/2023 17:24

I think I'd renovate- I dislike new houses, you get less bangs for your buck- but we have the skills to do a lot ourselves, which makes it cheaper.

sunshinesupermum · 04/02/2023 17:32

Renovate.

Lozzybear · 04/02/2023 17:41

Are you going to get your money back from the renovation? If the answer is no, I wouldn’t do it. I would look for an alternative house. That could be a new build or could it be another house which meets your requirements. E.G. an already extended semi in a nicer area than you are now.

ADHDQueen · 04/02/2023 22:36

New build. You'll save a fortune on fuel bills, plus new developments are lovely communities. House renovations are a nightmare, take twice as long & cost twice as much as you think. Plus many builders are cowboys. Get a 10 year fix with the new mortgage to protect your finances.

tallrectangle · 04/02/2023 22:52

Can you renovate without going up the loft: have nice new kitchen, bathrooms, update bedrooms, etc. do open plan/change layout/ changes to nice lights/colour scheme to give that nice new feeling to the house.. If one of the kids is 18, it's probably a couple of years before they leave the nest.
Also, will moving houses mean moving schools, so your teenage kids have to go to another school & change their social circle.

From a personal experience, renovating is no longer an opportunity to make any profit. The times when one could do a loft extension for £30K and then resell the house for £100K more a couple years later are gone. Renovating is as expensive as buying a new house... It's just a different way of cash handling. If you run out of money, you can pause the works, if you get a big mortgage, then you have to stick to it. Buying a new house is stressful but you have someone responsible for their work, some structural guarantees etc Renovating is a total stress, you work f/t as a site manager and all those self-builders hardly if ever guarantee you anything. It's a difficult choice...

good96 · 05/02/2023 13:09

Renovate would be a no brainer for me. I assume DC will start moving out over the next couple of years so you won’t need all the space you have now?
New builds can be overpriced for what they are.

IreneJones · 05/02/2023 13:48

"and obv it's really well finished and energy efficient"
Not my experience of a new build with a large, well known developer I'm afraid. I would definitely renovate your current property.

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