Live at the top of a council estate, shall we invest further in to the house?

[BlueGown13]

I love my house and the area isn't too bad, just need to views on weather it's a good idea or not.
So our house is just off a council estate, can see the estate from our garden/back of the house. We're on the estate just as you turn the corner leaving our front garden.

It's a lovely estate, 0 issues since we bought the house a couple of years ago
We do regularly see groups of kids just hanging around, sometimes quite loud but that's about it

The house was fairly cheap and was what we were looking for, we have a huge garden (which we can extend out into) and also a huge loft which we are thinking about converting into bedrooms (we need the space)
But in the back of my mind I'm having a few niggles, would this put you off buying a 4/5 bedroom house which is so close to a council estate? Is it worth us putting so much money into the house or should we just move?

It's a great starter home and we've got about 35k equity now.

Im not snobby at all so I don't want any comments about that. Im just thinking about future buyers etc.

Thanks

I think a lot depends where you are, London and South East I don't think it would be a huge issue, maybe a few grand less than a property not on the edge of a council estate. I don't know about the rest of the country.

West Yorkshire area

It sounds like you are planning to move in the near future anyway if you're more concerned about resale value then making a home. I would just move now.

I hate saying this as I grew up on a council estate and it was lovely, but It does impact the price people will pay so if it’s not a forever home I’d move.

I don't think we would move for a good few years if we did the loft conversion etc

I’d speak to local estate agents and ask them about it

@Lollypop701
Yes I have no issue with council estates (wouldn't have bought the house otherwise) but I know other people have other views which I'm worried about

You bought the house; there is no reason why others shouldn’t, as long as they have a similar trade-off (area vs price).
And if the improvements you’re planning would mean that you stayed there longer then it would all settle down over the long term. The only reason I’d say not to invest in extensions etc is if you would then expect them to bump up the value of the house significantly for a sale in the next couple of years.

The council estate isn't necessarily relevant.
Every area has a ceiling price, beyond which houses simply won't sell.
What you need to work out is what the ceiling price is fir the area and if spending money to do the work would take ypur spending beyond the ceiling price of the area.

You don't have a lot of equity so how would you finance an extension? If borrowing I think the cost of extending would be more than the increase in value of the house.

I'm in a similar position to you and am holding off borrowing to fund an extension (and I have a low loan to value so would get decent rates).
I think moving to a different house will be a better financial decision.

Are you friendly with your estate agent? You could ask them what the house might be worth improved vs not improved.

Also, have you had quotes in. I know a few people who have recently had quotes in for extensions that were way, way higher than expected.

Unless it’s a Council estate with a really bad reputation I think you are worrying about nothing and all the more so because your house is on the outer edge of it. It wouldn’t put me off buying it if it had all the features I was looking for.
If you are wanting to move elsewhere I’d do it now without extending, but I suppose the question you have to ask yourselves is whether you will be able to find and afford the house yours could be if you extended.