How do you finance home renovations?

[HelloCat]

We bought what I really hope is our forever home last year. We did stretch ourselves to the limit on the mortgage but knowing that both our incomes were likely to increase, the house is in a 'good' area (so renovations hopefully should pay off) and that actually we got a good deal on the property (we were sitting tenants).

The house needs a lot of work doing, both structural and cosmetic. Including some roof repairs, complete rewiring including adding plug sockets etc (currently one per room, wtf?), some re-rendering, new boiler, ideally new windows/ improved insulation (it is in a conservation area so this pushes the price right up). Medium term, kitchen needs gutting and redoing, and bathrooms too really. Whole house needs painting and so on, as would be expected. Other bits and pieces too.

We did make a budget when we decided to buy but that's been a bit blown out of the water by a couple of unexpected emergency repairs. We had planned to use our salaries to finance the repairs. We do have other options - we could extend the mortgage a little (we have equity) or we could get a 0% finance option, save and then pay it back at the end. Part of the problem, to be honest, is that we are both really credit adverse and will go without rather than taking out debt (our car is about 1000 years old, for instance).

I'm just interested in how others have gone about financing fairly major renovation projects?

Good question!

I bought a 1930 terrace last year and the survey missed quite a bit of work that needed/needs to be done.

So far I have used the savings I had left after the purchase and I am trying to rebuild that by saving a bit every month.

I also did as much work as I could myself (painting all the walls, removing all the carpets, restoring the original flooring, clearing the garden, painting tiles and cupboards in the kitchen, painting the shed, fences and the front door...) to save on costs.

But if I really needed funding urgently I suppose credit card or changing the mortgage terms might be the solution.

I bought a house that I knew needed a lot of work. I saved about £1k a month and did the work gradually.

It's taken 6 years and I've nearly finished. Another £4k should do it. That's involved demolishing and rebuilding a single storey extension, complete re-wire, new kitchen, boiler, windows and wiring. Then I'll be back to regular redecorating, which I can do myself.

It's been a labour of love!