Move or extend?

[Blackbinbag]

Would love to hear what others think they’d do in my position:

Option 1a) Extend current house (single storey) to add a much needed bedroom and bathroom. Cheapest option presumably. Remortgage house so total amount (not including interest) is still <£100k. Mortgage payments wouldn’t change as we currently overpay. I see this as a shortish (<5 years) term option as house still wouldn’t be perfect. 25 year mortgage. Would probably move in the future to somewhere with more living space.

Option 1b) Extend current house (double storey) to add the much needed bedroom, bathroom and create an additional living space. Remortgage house so still owe <£100k. Mortgage payments wouldn’t change as we currently overpay. Would also need loan of £20-30k. In my view this is a medium/long term option as with extra living space house is more future proofed. 25 year mortgage. Possibly could stay here indefinitely.

Option 2) Move to new build. Mortgage payment would increase by almost £500 (so doubling) as well as increased council tax. New build would be the ‘forever home’. 30 or 32 year mortgage.

Do any of these options jump out to anyone as the obvious one to do? Will try and give more details if required. In terms of area we don’t love where we live so much that it means extending is the clear choice but on the other hand we don’t hate where we live, I’d say we are pretty neutral on it. Schools etc don’t come into it.

I’m not crazy about the idea of a 32 year mortgage and we wouldn’t be in a position to overpay to clear quicker.

In the first 5 years financially options 1b and 2 are similar as would cost us pretty much the same per month for those years until loan paid off.

I wish someone would tell me what to do.

Option 3. Wait for house prices to fall and buy a far bigger house which is not a new build. Perhaps even somewhere you like a bit more.

A 32 year mortgage feels horrific.

Idk how up to date you are with current building prices, but someone was on here a few days ago, she lived in S Manchester. Her two storey side extension quotes were coming in at 225k.

Apart from the space what else is a reason for moving or staying at current house.

I'd extend if I loved the location or it's a desirable location. If you extend I'd do the double height and do a a kitchen living room downstairs and and a master suite upstairs with dressing room/en-suite and bedroom

Thanks Kiev. We’re in Scotland so generally cheaper but yes building costs are eye watering.

Option 3 would be the sound one for most but we have been seriously trying to move for over 3 years now and it just feels like crunch time now. We are just tearing our hair out here now and it’s consuming everything this need for more space/an extra bedroom. If something came up in the very near future we are very much still open to looking but there’s a shortage of decent 3/4 bed houses here so everything is still being snapped up at the moment. We’ve lost out on so many closing dates now that it just feels impossible.

It’s just space really Cherry. The area is fine, it’s close to our kids school. Part of me likes the idea of keeping a small mortgage but another part thinks we technically can afford the bigger mortgage even though it seems very scary and maybe we could look back in the future and regret not pushing ourselves.

If we were at the start of our journey with it all the clear option is to move to a bigger house. It’s just that we are so far down the line now and have taken a few knocks along the way that that no longer feels like a straight forward option. It was our first choice and it didn’t work out.

@Blackbinbag I understand. From the few people I know who have bought or tried to buy there, it is really hard work.

Good luck with the quest for more space! I did hear today that one major building supply company have started lowering their prices, and another just posted a £12m loss - something really has to give with silly prices - maybe this is the start of it.

Thank you!

The idea of big extensions always scares me as you hear so many horror stories of the costs running out of control, especially at the moment. So option B would scare me whereas option A doesn’t sound enough to solve your problems.

If you need a significantly bigger house I would look to move, but preferably not to a new build as they tend to be overpriced and I wouldn’t want to start such a long mortgage. I would be looking for something a bit cheaper and more affordable.

Though ultimately, if you do need to take out a long mortgage at this stage, you could always overpay in future to shorten the term.

This, could you not focus on overpaying even more for 12 months and then reassess your position ? A year passes pretty quickly, you are managing even though its difficult.
With mortgage rates forcast to stay high through 2024 I wouldn't consider adding to the debt now if you can possibly avoid it.

Question not about houses, what’s your plans / likes for holidays or trips abroad? What do you like doing outside of the home? Reason I ask is if option 2 stops you from enjoying holidays you love I would go 1b. However if you can still have the quality of life you want with a few minor changes to your life style then go with 2.

New builds have some amazing deals at the moment, so if you go down that path push them hard for loads of extras.

I think the reality is that none of these options are ideal. As someone else said extending is quite a terrifying prospect as costs run away and also builders and tradesmen can be so unreliable. Then on the other hand the issues people end up having with newbuilds and the fact they’re not really value for money sqm for sqm in comparison to a non new build. I am not necessarily someone who would instinctively choose a new build but the fact that it’s a set price, no closing date etc is appealing.

I am naturally risk averse which is making the decision more difficult. If I knew interest rates when we buy were the peak I’d feel happier with going for option 2 but if in 5 years time when it’s time to remortgage then interest rates are higher it’s a problem but of course no one knows.

32 year mortgage is horrible, totally agree and we definitely couldn’t get it with a plan to overpay. However can’t you sometimes reduce the term ‘naturally’ when remortgaging provided rates are lower when you do?

With regards to holidays etc we do like a holiday and because our housing costs atm are low we probably make up for it with holidays however we are huge home bodies otherwise so our home is massively high if not top of the list of priorities.

Staying where we are and doing nothing in the hope of securing another property doesn’t feel like an option for much more than a few months. We are all so affected by the lack of space that I think we need to be making progress within the next six months. We can’t still be here this time next year hoping for option 3.

Yes @Blackbinbag when you remortgage you can change the term at the same time so if you are in a better position financially or if interest rates are lower at that stage, you will be able to lower the term in future. Nevertheless, the disadvantage of a longer term is that you will be paying very little capital for ages, mainly just interest.

Not sure if it helps, but could you do option 1, but make sure the foundations would take a double storey extension? You could then reassess at a later date and decide whether to move or add the second storey. If you've already got the plumbing in place below it would be fairly easy to add a bedroom with ensuite further down the line, then you can turn the downstairs bedroom into a living room and either leave the bathroom, or just use a bit of the space for a toilet and add the rest into the new living space.

You may find in a few years that things have changed and you definitely do/ don't want to move, so this way you get a bit of breathing room before having to decide.

An option 1c has been thrown into the mix!!!

l like this A LOT. The ‘double storey’ I would like to do is actually more like one and a half as the second storey is in the roof (attic type room) so would this theory still work if we built the whole thing and didn’t kit out the top half in any way? Would that still save enough to make it worth the saving if you know what I mean?

I have heard of people doing their extensions by just getting a builder to do the shell then having separate trades in to finish it off or even using all separate trades but I wouldn’t even know who I needed when …

Thank you!

Hi OP how are you getting on with your decision? Option 1b was my preferred route so 1c sounds a wise halfway house. You can get PP for 1b and then if you only build the single storey extension your PP for the whole thing will remain granted for life so would be a selling point if it came to that later.
We're in a similar dilemma- love our house and road but the cost of extending isn't that cheap round here - same as moving really - plus we'd love a bigger garden so basically torn about what to do.

@Userxyd Well, we had pretty much made the decision to stay and extend, increased the budget for this then the architect did some preliminary sketches and due to our house being a bit awkward we’d need to increase the budget by another 15% and still not end up with what we really want so I think we need to accept it’s not doable. We were already taking the house way over the ceiling price for the street which I was fine with doing if it meant we had a house we were really happy with and could live in more or less forever but that’s not what we would get and we’d have spent an even more ridiculous sum of money.

We’ve decided to put the house on the market in January, see what comes up to buy and if nothing suitable on the open market then go for a new build. Our situation is a bit unique in that we’ve been trying to move for several years so at least a new build puts an end to it all even if it’s not our number one choice of house. It lets us move onto the next chapter of our lives.

I’m sorry to hear you’re in a similar predicament. It’s not an easy decision to make. I think a few years ago it was a clearer cut choice that extending was cheaper than moving but that’s changed dramatically now. Have you spoken to an architect about your house? It’s worth doing even if you end up deciding against it. It’s meant we can finally stop thinking of it as an option really!

Thanks for your reply @Blackbinbag and sorry to be slow coming back to you! Yes we've had plans drawn up and got PP last year, then got a clearer idea of costs which were higher than last ballparks we got pre Covid- like 2-3 times higher! 😭 So then a house with potential came along at a reasonable price and we went for that but the seller was a nutcase playing games and it fell through so now we're back to our position on the fence with all options just getting more and more expensive while we dither!!
I hope you have a more successful time of things now- it does look like more is coming on the market so I guess the next few weeks will be interesting ☺️