1930s house renovation

[bellamountain]

Has anyone completed a 1930s house renovation recently, with the current huge increases in costs to do so? A house we are looking at would need absolutely everything done (and we have two young children). Loft conversion and downstairs extension. It's been neglected for a long time. Because it has a large garden and space to the side, it has a lot of scope and could be a fantastic house. We have a mortgage agreement in place and could (just) afford a bigger home (that is already extended) however they aren't to our taste and will still need work going forward (although no major building works). Many of these houses don't have decent gardens or are overlooked.

We've been though building works before but our house was always liveable but costs were nowhere near what they are now and it could spiral / be hugely stressful with younger children.

Depends where you are. Maybe 150k all in.

In London:

We were quoted 130k (cheapest of 6 quotes) for a 3m x 6m single story extension with mid range kitchen and finish.

My neighbour recently put a loft extension (1 bed, 1 bath) on her 30's house and that was 65k.

If you need a rewire, new central heating, plastering, flooring, windows - add another 60k - 70k

And give yourself a 20% contingency.

We are in the South East. The costs have rocketed in recent years. It's no wonder there are so many houses on the market that aren't shifting because of the expense and upheaval of renovations. Definitely food for thought.

That's not a 'renovation'. That's a reno + extension + loft conversion. If you get much change out of 200K I'd be very surprised, and it could cost a lot more; a full reno alone (if it is really a full one, retile roof, rewire, new kitchen, new bathroom, redecorate everywhere, replaster a fair bit of it, new drains, new floor coverings, redo drive)- would be likely to be at least 100K even in a cheap part of the UK. It's cheap because it will cost a lot to renovate, and it has the land to be bigger. You won't save money getting that sort of house compared to buying one the right size in the first place.
It may be worth it if you plan to live there for a few decades and don't mind it costing a lot- you would at least have it as you wanted it. But living in it as well, with small kids? The disruption for the extension and loft will be pretty massive.
You need to cost it VERY carefully, at the very least.

Do you need the loft conversion and downstairs extension straight away? We moved into our 3 bed 1930s semi earlier this year knowing we'd need to do DIY (we're the 3rd occupiers)...just on paint, filler, sanders, brushes, wood stripper etc we've spent upwards of £2,000. Garden (mostly standard equipment for upkeep, a chainsaw + grass and plant seeds), upwards of £1,000. We have 4 large round bay windows, we've decided to go for plantation shutters (and knew they wouldn't be cheap), but curtains or blinds would still be significant because of the size. We were quoted £2.5k for carpets for 4 rooms. I think you need to be willing to do DIY at the start and recognise there is a related cost, if you want to keep costs down. Extensions and conversions can come later, if you're not willing to do DIY and wait, I recommend reconsidering this house as an option.

It sounds potentially extremely expensive and also like almost 2 years of full steam renovation, including planning etc, if all goes well. Extremely time consuming stuff requiring a lot of expertise in its planning, staffing and resourcing and containing significant risk. We did similar but only because there was nothing for sale in the area which we were committed to, where family houses often don't reach the open market and I would never do it again. I think you really have to be an enthusiast now to do it and if there are alternatives I would take them and then maintain that property to avoid it deteriorating. Too many people have relied on a rising property market and not maintained their property assuming someone else will take it on/ it won't be devalued. I don't think that is true anymore and you might find the mortgage company refusing to lend anyway.....

Renovating everything, plus loft conversion plus kitchen diner extension is likely to set you back £250-300k, and depending on the price of the house, and how long you plan to stay there, you may or may not get your money back.

I bought my 3 bed 1930's semi for £665k, and have recently been quoted £65k for a loft conversion and £100k for kitchen diner, taking me up to £830k total investment.

4 beds with kitchen diner extension now go for £850-£900k in my area, though market may fall further. I'd have to manage the works costs really tightly in order to at least get my money back, which is something you'd need to think about.

If you have the funds to do all the works now (I don't, which is why my projects are currently on pause), I'd probably spend the money on an already renovated and extended house, and do any minor works DIY over time.

We are in south east London zone 6, typical 1930s semi, just have done the reno recently.

FYI

Internal works:

1. Complete demolition of existing garage, kitchen & bathroom, strip existing wallpapers, remove existing skirtings, architrave and first floor doors, remove existing old boiler and tank, remove existing flooring at first and ground floors
2. Carry out investigation on removing the rest of chimney breast in kitchen
3. Carry out investigation on roof timber water stains
4. Supply and fit first floor bathroom window and flashing
5. Install new air-brick vent in loft
6. Supply and build new timber stud partitions to form new ground floor toilet
7. Fix existing cracks around the first-floor front and rear bay windows using Heli fix
8. Fix separation crack between conservatory and main house
9. Rewire whole house, add new lights, new sockets and switches as requested
10. Install new plumbing to kitchen, bath, and toilet
11. Install radiator control into 5 zones and manifold
12. Supply and fit new door frame to ground floor toilet
13. Plaster whole house
14. Treat and paint whole house
15. Install new doors
16. Supply and fit skirtings and architrave to whole house
17. Install new family bathroom and toilet
18. Install new radiators
19. Install new kitchen
20. Install new boiler
21. Install new laminate flooring to first floor and ground floor
22. Install radiators to entire house
23. Waste management

External works:

1. Supply and install new Acro drains to front and side of the house
2. Replace leaking part of guttering
3. Refresh hanging wall tiles at the front elevation
4. Replace roof tiles above existing kitchen
5. Reinstate drainage cover
6. Build new summer house concrete footing (3m x 5m approximately)
7. Build new summer house using timber joists with fibre glass roofing
8. Supply and fit one UPVC door and window to summer house
9. Supply and fit composite cladding to summer house
10. Wire up summer house
11. Feed summer house with hot and cold water
12. Feed patio with cold water
13. Dig 1 cubic metre soakaway for hard surface water
14. Waste management We will supply and fit all above materials and skip, unless noted otherwise. If needed, I will be happy to assist on saucing all finishing materials.

Our quote to carry out above will be £88,500(Internal works) + £19,500(External works) and our duration of works will be around 18 - 19 weeks.

at the end, basically under £90k (we cut out some “external works”)

However, sometimes these 30s are located in self-occupation area, maybe in some good school catchment? and the previous owners generally live in them for more than 30 or even 40 years. It’s rare to see properties for sale that do not require renovation.

We were been quoted £80k for a loft conversion… around 45sqm🙄

We moved into a Cambridge 1930s semi in March 21 and paid 860K. We started a ground and first floor extension and renovation in Dec 21. Finished Oct 22. 3 quotes all between 210 and 240 + VAT. Then we spent extra on kitchens, bathrooms and flooring etc. We are waiting for a valuation. We are confident we've broken even (it has 6 bedrooms) but certainly won't have made much. For us that's fine as we plan to be here for at least 20 years so it was more about a family in a great catchment. I spoke to our busker yesterday and he said we'd be looking at minimum 50k more now so we're very glad we just about managed it!

Grrr: more about a family home and we spoke to our builder, not busker!! 🤦‍♀️

We've just finished 2 years of this! Detached, 1930's property that had been left derelict with a large, overgrown garden. We added a small extension, but almost everything was replaced. New roof, flooring, windows, insulation, re-wired, all new sewer pipes, underfloor heating, new boiler, new bathrooms, kitchen etc etc.

I assumed it would take 1 yrs, but it was 2. We removed some walls- and the cost of steels went up weekly! Literally. The overall cost is also double what I thought it would be! We plan to live here for years to come and enjoy it though.

When was the property last lived in OP? If its more than 2yrs empty, there is a little know government scheme to get the home back to a livable state. You councils 'empty home officer' will do an inspection and check their records of when it was last lived in. 2-10yrs empty, you only pay 5% VAT on goods to get it back to a livable state. Over 10yrs empty, you pay 0 VAT on those things. (insulation, windows, plumbing, boiler etc).

We're just coming to the end of a renovation of a 1930s semi with 5m single storey extension and hip to gable loft conversion. We've replaced all windows, re-rendered, re-wired, replaced water mains, insulated, add ASHP and solar panels. It's cost us just shy of £400k.

We definitely could have made some compromises and done it cheaper but don't think we'd have done it for under £300k. We're in an expensive area though.

Blimey - was it worth it @BingoFucklinger ?

Economically speaking, I mean? Will you get the £400k back when you sell the property do you think? ( I appreciate it may not have been done for purely economic reasons).

@Twiglets1 Good question! I'm confident we'd get at least £300k back if we sold, probably nearer £400k. I have no intention of moving again, but it's certainly something we thought about before we started.

We are half way through. It's been a slow process as dh is doing the majority of the work (he is qualified) but is working full time too.

It is a five bed semi, used to be a guest house but all work done hasnt been done by professionals.

So far we have taken a wall out to make kitchen diner, new kitchen, extension on side for utility and workshop, top two bedrooms ripped out and put back together, full rewire of top floor, back bedroom on 1st floor is half way through, needed to be fully ripped apart, rewire, plaster board etc.
Living room has been decorated and wood burner put in but needs the damp sorting.

So far we have spent about £35k

Left to do... our bedroom and ensuite (rewire, rip out and start again, make en suite bigger and full refit)
Hall, stairs and landings need rewire and plaster, new carpets and decorate.
Banisters need replacing
Under stairs toilet need updating
Damp in front room and then full decorate
New front door
Eventually a porch
Garage needs roof sorting and made into a summer house.
Loft space needs insulation
Would like a shower room on top floor.
Box room needs rewire and ripping out

Jesus there is loads left to do! Love the house though and it's a forever home.

Oh in that 35k the back garden was fully renovated too, this had to be done early on as we couldn't get round with digger after the extension went on. Dh did all this himself also and it looks amazing

Is it a semi detached or detached house? Because that needs to be taken in to consideration. It’s a home first and foremost. I live in a row of 8 late 1920’s big semi detached houses. Two have big extensions on the back, really well done. In the last couple of years there has been one with an extension sold and one without an extension sold. The difference was not as big as you would think for an entire extra room. The premium for a detached house is so much more.

Thanks for answering, I was just interested in the economics of it.

You must have a wonderful home anyway designed to perfectly meet your family’s needs and that’s obviously the most important thing.

I think the viability of these type of reno depends on being able to do at least some stuff yourselves, labouring clearing garden painting decorating ( I don't mean specialist trades like plumbers electricians and surveyors or plasterers) but paying for everything does eat into any potential profit, also sourcing some items yourselves can save money

Absolutely. We have done loads ourselves on ours, like all the decorating including things like covings and skirtings, plus up to and including replacing joists, and doing brickwork repairs and carpentry. It's still going to have cost not far shy of 100K, and it's only as low as that because we already had the kitchen units, and some things I'm happy to live with (old plaster that's sound but not mirror-flat, for example). And I'm not including the conservatory- just the reno stuff. And that's in the 'cheap' NW England.
We still have the bathroom and shower room to do, so may well go over the 100K mark.

We definitely need the extension on that house (or any house like it). We'd need to make the house better than what we already have (although future secondary school catchment is the main driving factor to moving). DH is a tradesmen in one area but everything else would need to be done by other professionals. I certainly wouldn't trust either of us to paint properly. £300k is eye watering but if it's a house you are going to stay in (and you can afford it) then obviously that makes sense. Costs have crept up to extortionate levels (everywhere).

Ideally a 1970s house needing work will come on the market, one of those with the big windows and 4 bedrooms. It wouldn't need any building works / extensions but 1930s houses round here are common place. I guess they made do in the old days didn't they. Some of the properties that the elderly have been living in makes me feel sad, no one around to tidy up or decorate for them.

@SM4713 I had no idea that's very useful info, thank you.

I can imagine 2 years actually.

We moved into a 2 bed 1930s bungalow in autumn 2020. It had been empty for over a year. We planned to do exactly what you plan to do, kitchen diner extension and loft conversion. We were adamant that we would not move out for the works.

We could only afford to do one of these things, either the downstairs extension or loft conversion. That decision was made for us when I got pregnant with DS2 shortly after moving in. We needed more bedrooms so loft conversion won. We spent about 80k doing this. This includes everything though, paint, flooring, and some of the furniture up there.

We now have 4 bedrooms and one of these is my office. the kitchen is falling apart and I do wish we had replaced it when we moved in 3 years ago with a cheap one as we still have a few more years to go. We can't afford to do the downstairs work so this will be a few more years down the line. I reckon it would cost us another 100k to do the downstairs extension and the rejig of rooms/walls to get it to what we want. If we were to sell it afterwards, I reckon we would, at best, break even.

I get what you mean with whilst there are other places on the market that have done the extension, they aren't quite what we want. 650k is the closest I have found and we would still want to knock down walls and reconfigure the space; I might as well spend it here to get exactly what I want. We don't plan to move from here for a long time.