Would u spend more on extension that house is worth?

[Hyperion100]

Just that really. Its probably a 5 to 10 year house.

We were planning on doing a small 3m rear extension but after 5 quotes came back ranging from 90k to 120k ex vat, ex kitchen. We dont feel like we can justify the cost.

The current layout is "fine" but when we bought a few years ago we always planned to extend and lose the tiny galley kitchen but we cant believe the costs are so high. A neighbour did the exact same build 5 years ago for 80k inc vat and inc kitchen.

Weve spoken to 2 local estate agents who said the work would only add around 50k to the sale value in todays market.

Will costs drop over the next few years? Surely they cant stay this high as no one will be able to afford any building work?

We did it with two young children, it was stressful but worth it and we intended to stay 10+ years. Not sure I would do it if for a 5 year plan though.

The whole upstairs was sealed off and we couldn't use it for months (extending into eaves). Kitchen was out of bounds and we made a make shift kitchen in a corner of the lounge (microwave, tiny oven with two hob plates on top, fridge). Its actually surprising what you get used to and what you can cook. I thought we'd have more takeaways than we did. The kids thought it was all great fun.

I also worked from home during most of it. The builders fell out mid way through it and went their separate ways. We chose the most efficient of the two to continue with the work (obv!), and the other tried to sue us. All in all rather stressful.

However, we have ended up with a house that suits our needs as a family with a great open plan kitchen/diner, separate lounge, separate office and 3 great double bedrooms ... oh and an extra bathroom.

The cost is also in how much it will benefit your quality of life.

My friends have a tiny terrace, with rubbish bathroom/bedroom layout etc.
They had a galley kitchen that stuck out into the back garden, and they did a side extension to make a big rectangular kitchen diner.

it was lifechanging. Totally changed how they could live in their house. My friend was pregnant with no.1 when they did it, and they now have 2 small children and it makes for perfect family life.

It has made the last 5 years a totally different experience for them.
They are now looking to move for more space.

So that is something I would take into consideration

At 90k and 120k for an 18 m2 extension works out at 5k and 6.5k a sqm and that’s without a kitchen? Unless it’s a really complicated design then it should not be that expensive, I know it’s London price but it’s still too much.

Maybe you can pop round and knock them one up once you've finished building yours? 🤣

I agree, the price seems insane!

We had 3 quotes at 90k, 1 at 120k and 1 at 165k so instantly discounted that one.

The 3 that came in at 90 are all highly rated. 2 came from personal recommendations and the 3rd from our architect.

So I assume thats just the going rate now?

@Hyperion100 can I ask what companies you used for the 90k, we are thinking of this next yr.

So if your house is one of the only ones on your street without an extension how much have recent ones sold for with the extensions?

No you don’t worry about accommodation they find their own

In some parts of the U.K. like the north east of England builders etc are much cheaper than where you are

i can imagine half of your quote would be a big pay day for them - yes they’d have to travel home every weekend etc but I guess that means they’d be keen to finish the job

The builders I used lived 80 miles from me roughly but crazily like I said saved us about 50k! And that is precisely because the local builders were taking the proverbial

165k is a joke! It does make me wonder the figures people use as the reinstatement value on their insurance these days. I suspect many of them are far too low. Going by the cost of some extensions, it would be cheaper to buy a whole new house than have to build your own from scratch in the event of a disaster 🙈

I’ve got all on with my own 😤

but the 20m2 I’m currently building ( slowly) roughly the materials should come to about 12-13k Even if you added bifolds/ roof lantern and steel to knock through I’m not sure it would come much above 25k. That’s with vat paid on materials,so the rest would be labour.

if you’ve had multiple quotes and 90k is the going rate then there’s not a lot you can do , But it does seem a lot of money. ☹️

In this circumstance I wouldn't go ahead, no

We did - got quotes just before Covid so it was eyewatering but nothing like it would be now. We knew it would take us above ceiling price for street, but we are going to be here long term, and it made the house what we wanted it to be. So we factored that into the cost in a way - our improved living.

It's a nice house, in a very good location and we have improved it.

It's worked out as other houses on the street have improved by extending etc. and there's been a big rise in house prices so that if we sold tomorrow we'd get the money back.

Now...I really don't think I would.

We are going to be spending more than we could get for our house should we sell it in the next 10 years, as we have some very specific needs and the cost will benefit us. I have looked and there is nothing we could buy using the money instead, I have been looking for about a year since we got some inheritance. I will be looking right up to the point we seriously start plans etc.

Look carefully where you can do a bit of DIY eg decorating, flooring. Can you buy anything secondhand or materials surplus ?

This