Renovation on a little budget

[Rubyruby2222]

I'm in the process of buying a doer upper.

I don't plan to make any structural changes.

Things that need doing immediately:

-rewiring and adding new points
-new windows and doors
-new boiler and moved it from its original location.

I will need a loan to do all of the above.

Having looked through other renovation threads on here it seems that people have a budget of £150,000 - £200,000 for their renovations, albeit often that includes extensions etc.

Has anyone done the above on a loan/interest free credit? Im hoping that there are people out there that do it, but just aren't crazy enough to admit it on MN!!

The title is misleading. My budget is determined by loans!

We added €50k to the mortgage when we bought to use for immediate renovations. Is that possible?

We moved in to a renovation project with virtually no budget and then did it up slowly as we earned the money.

Sounds like you are being sensible focusing on making sure the building is weather tight first and if you need to move the boiler then doing that early is sensible.

I would say be slightly cautious in case there is an issue that is urgent which needs sorting quicker that the electrics or the windows. For example is the roof and guttering definitely ok? Is the loft insulated? I assume if you are moving th boiler that the heating is in good working condition?

Windows can be replaced pretty easily after you have done everything else in a room without damaging the room and so replacing them could wait until later if you don't have the money yet.

Also you can rewire a room at a time. If you want to save money, you can cut in all the new sockets into the plasterwork and you can even get the electrician to show you how to run the cables and they can just test them and connect them up for you.

Sorry but it sounds like you really can't afford to take on this project in a falling market. Borrowing costs, labour costs and materials costs have rocketed and are continuing to rise. Property values are falling and that's likley to accelerate. You really need some proper financial advise before you go ahead with the purchase. Massive red flag based on the little info you have given.

New doors are really expensive. Like thousands of pounds each for external doors or several hundreds per door for internal doors. Also easily changed once everything else has been done. Could they be refurbished instead? At least for the time being?

We had a small budget of £25k to start our renovation then have saved to complete other works.

Half went straight away on a new heating system. £12k on new boiler and relocating from the kitchen to loft, all new radiators and new pipes as we had an old one pipe system that wasn't very effective.

£5k on rewire and the rest of the budget (and more) was quickly swallowed up by new internal doors, plastering, glass and oak staircase, new carpets, paint, new external doors.

We are currently saving up for bathroom and kitchen. Then we need to move onto the windows and roof.

We wouldn't choose to go into debt for this but others have a higher attitude to risk and debt.

We've replaced all our internal doors at a cost of £100 a door and then £50-70 to fit. External doors can be very expensive if you want composite but external hardwood doors can be bought for less than £200.

I think Mumsnet is sometimes a little misleading because most people aren't renovating large houses and the demographic on here is tailored to the top end.

Having said that I would be cautious of getting into too much debt. It's a lot of work but if you'll live there for the next 20 years well worth doing.

Thanks all for the feedback.

I will never be able to find a property like this in the area that it's in again so I appreciate that there might be a bit of heart ruling the head.

Is it uninhabitable OP? Can you live in whilst renovating?

You'll be looking at the thick end of £50k or more as you're not allowing for kitchens and bathrooms, and decor. You can also easily spend £5k. curtail poles, blinds etc. you should ask to join Housfolk on FB where there are a lot of people doing what this and swapping tips etc.

It is habitable thankfully. Have family members that can do more of the technical DIY. I'm prepared to slum it in terms of current decor. But the technical things I'm going to need to pay out for up front.

You can also easily spend £5k. curtail poles, blinds etc.

Or you can easily do it for well under £500! 🤔

The bathroom is good nick and the kitchen can wait.

Love that page, get so much house envy, but similar to on here, the budgets are way out of my league.
I.e "I have £50,000 to do up this utility room"

Rewired, windows, boiler and rads, depending how big it is and what you do for windows maybe around £30/£40k

I always buy doer ups with only a few thousand left to do them up and somehow I manage.
realistically if the boiler works and is safe you can leave that for abit. The windows and doors are unlikely fall apart immediately even if they are rotting so it’s probably only the wiring that’s urgent.
I would go for if your are going to stay for at least 5 years.

curtains, curtain poles, lampshades can be bought cheaply second hand or from Freecycle. I make my own curtains and it’s not hard. Pinterest has lots of ideas of how to do things on a budget.

Autumn 1990, Same here. Technically you're not allowed to do your own wiring. We were lucky in our last house, DH put electricity socket, lights in the conservatory and managed to get a company not local to come and sign it off. We were in our last house 12 years saved up a bit,had the jobs done he couldn't. Lived in a building site, same here.

This is what we'll be doing soon as there's very little we can afford for our first home, and they're all ex-rental terraces in poor condition. We'll literally be saving up per month for paint, we're borrowing money for the conveyancer. My thinking is for the past decade we've rented a house with a boiler that breaks every winter, rotten window frames with water between the glass, energy rating E, last decorated in the 90's but the kitchen and bathroom is 60's at best, needs a full rewire, roof leaks when it rains and the gutters leak down the front on the house. We've lived here fine, so when we finally have our own place I'm not in a big rush, we'll get to things as we save up for them but the chances are we'll be able to manage for as long as that takes. I'm sure you'll be fine OP.

No idea what size house it is but some quotes from this year for our 4 bed detached in the North in case helpful:

Composite front door £1K
New double glazing (10 windows), two sets of 6ft patio doors and two single glass door £9-10K
New boiler same location but having it switched to a combination boiler, removing tank from the loft and adding an extra radiator £2700
New consumer unit and 6 spotlights installed in lounge £1K
One electric socket changed from single into double and one socket replaced with a USB socket £95
Installing new electric oven £75

I think you would need £15-20K budget to cover the things you've mentioned, depending on size of the house and where in the UK you live.

This is what loads of people have been doing for decades. I was reading another thread where someone suggested 200k for doing up a 3 bed house 😄 I mean, of course you could spend that but you don't have to. It's inhabitable, just do the bits you can afford as you go along. There are ways of saving money and loads of skills you can learn yourself. It's never been easier to access second hand or display kitchens etc via online marketplaces. Only replace what you really need to. If your boiler does need to be replaced, mine cost 2.5k not 12k. Obviously it helps if things are pretty standard. Likewise I've just replaces half my double glazing (glass only) for 900 not 5k. You really don't need to rip everything our and start again.

We renovated our house on a small budget OP (well we’re not finished). We didn’t need a rewire, but we got a new boiler, removed water tank, all new radiators and flooring throughout, new kitchen, new bathroom and converted the under stairs into a toilet. Ripped several fire places out, new internal doors, new windows on the front (this included 2 bay windows), some work on the roof and a lot of internal replastering. We spent about 35k in total and this was last year and budget fittings ie, b&q bathroom and kitchen. We still have 2 rooms to go (one still has woodchip wallpaper🙄).

I think it can be done over time, however I’ll be honest I really struggled when I saw friends that were spending in excess of 100k plus on their renovations and made comments that we shouldn’t have bought this house. It was hard going as well, I think what I hadn’t accounted for was that it wasn’t just the fact this house was a ‘doer upper’ and needed work, alot of things we thought could wait couldn’t such as the kitchen. It’s hard work OP, make sure you’re prepared for that.

Thank you all for the comments! So very helpful.

you can’t do this with first time mortgages in the UK. Possible if you remortgage after owning a while

We did the front windows then the d back and side when we could afford them
is the boiler safe and functional

I’d recommend joining
https://nextdoor.co.uk/news_feed
for contractor recommendations or
https://trustedtraders.which.co.uk/
(might be Which? members only).

You might need the boiler to be earth bonded which might affect where you want the boiler positioned.

www.britishgas.co.uk/home-services/home-improvements/protective-bonding.html
https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/heating-advice/step-by-step-installation
might give you the information you need to decide.

Gas boilers are being phased out for installation in new builds from 2025. According to Which? the other option is an electric boiler, which are generally more efficient, quieter and less likely to go wrong (fewer moving parts). They don’t need a flue, so can be placed anywhere, and don’t have the risk of a carbon monoxide leak. They also create zero carbon emissions so are better for the environment. Potential problems include limitations on boiler output imposed by the capacity of the incoming supply cable and/or the size of the supply fuse plus the possible higher price of electricity compared to gas. More info here
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/boilers/article/electric-boilers-what-you-need-to-know-ajZpQ1U7Ds6U

I’d also consider solar panels or a heat pump if they were suitable for my place (it’s a rental so definitely not)
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/free-solar-panels/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66359093

Given the time of year (Idk when you’re likely to move in) consider how draughty the place is – I live in a very wonky Victorian flat and the draft in the living room is strong enough to move the curtains. I live on my own so wear lots of layers to cut down on heating, but if that’s not something you can do, consider how much of your heating bill is going to go straight out the gaps in the window frames. If you can’t afford to replace the windows,
https://www.theplasticpeople.co.uk/advice/advice-plastic/secondary-glazing-help-guide/
might be an alternative (I couldn’t afford it and have sheet plastic screwed over each pane - works on sash windows with the plastic on the outside of the top and the inside of the bottom casement.)

I also saved money by giving away lots of kitchen units I was getting rid of on
https://www.freecycle.org/
https://www.ilovefreegle.org/
that otherwise would have cost ££ to take to the dump or get picked up by the local authority (they charge). I've also been given a lot of stuff but it depends on your taste/location/luck/storage/access to a vehicle.

Good luck with the project!