Can you build a kitchen extension from 75k these days - London?

[edme]

We live in a house that we love, where the only problem is, the kitchen diner is too small.
We would need a side extension, about 15 square metres. No fancy large bifolds, just a standard extension. We would need to move the kitchen to the extension and the current kitchen would become the dining room.
Do you think this is doable from 75k?

We have the option to move to another house which would not need to be extended, the house is just as good as ours, and all (absolutely all) costs factored in with selling, buying, and moving, it would cost 75k.

Would you build or move?

We're also thinking about the disruption and stress that building work comes and we don't like it.

Thank you in advance!

Just to confirm, we are in the outskirts of London.

I'd move

We’ve just done a similar size extension also moving kitchen. Quotes were typically around the 60-70k to second fit stage and excluding cost of glass / kitchen / flooring/decorating etc which was all additional- fully finished we are up to around 130k. We are up north but not sure that impacts much on variation as cost of living and services up here is just as expensive now. It would have been cheaper for us to move but we knew that going into process and do have a much more usable space now.

Thank you. This sounds really high compared to what one can read on forums from a few years ago!

I know, couldn’t believe the difference versus last time we extended. We did have a lot of glass that accounted for about 20k of that though (2 x sliders/ picture window/ electric veluxes etc). Just in case that makes any difference !

I dont think you'd get that for £75,000.

We're in Bedfordshire and just had some work done. The quote for knocking two rooms into one and building a small extension to square the room off, to leave an empty shell for a kitchen to be fitted in, was £60,000.

We've not fully totalled it up, but it's nearer £95,000. We had a serving hatched changed into a doorway, had the doorway from the hall into the kitchen widened a little bit, and French doors and a new window installed.

It's a big room, and our kitchen quote, including 7 appliances, but not worktops or fitting, is £16,500. Had one quote for quartz worktops for £3,500 and one for £2,800.

Not had the quote for fitting yet, but I'm expecting around £2,500-£3,000.

I would never, ever have embarked on this project if I'd realised the mess throughout the whole house, or the upheaval (been without a kitchen for seven months now) we'd experience. It would have been cheaper and less stressful to move.

No chance, at least double, plus VAT. I would just move.

We’re on the outskirts of London and currently looking to do a small side extension. Again, nothing fancy. But have been told by two architects that it would be £120k minimum.

Can the space you have be rearranged to create a better sized kitchen?

Hi, yes, potentially we could, but the space would still be tight, especially as children grow.

I would price up a kitchen first to give you an idea of how much would be left over for building works. If it's 20k then you know you have 55k left for building, including VAT.

Fair enough. I'd Still look at ways to improve use of existing space as it seems 75k won't get you what you want in an extension. And presumably to.move you would have to move areas to get a bigger house? It may be you could build an extension without moving your kitchen? Building a room (play or dining) will cost less than moving and installing a brand new kitchen.

Definitely move. The thought of all that upheaval of having an extension built is exhausting.

If you’re sure that moving (inc stamp duty, estate agent, solicitors fees etc) would cost you 75k then I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Where we are it would cost us about £400k to move so the £150k extension looks a lot more cost effective.

That's fair - do you think building the same size extension but just using it as dining room would cost less?
Then maybe it could be converted to kitchen when we would renovate our kitchen anyway.

No idea, I'd imagine it would be less to build a dining space, but if you want a kitchen in eventually you will need to have water etc plumbed to it, which would be cheaper to do at the time of building.

I appreciate the answers from everyone ❤️ We are in a situation where we would not need to move areas and indeed 75k includes all costs. It is because our own house has loads of advantages, so we can get a good price for it. It's just the house we can buy would suit us better.

I'm in London and would definitely move for £75k difference rather than build.

How much is the stamp duty on your next place? I’m not sure it’s worth it just for an extra room but depends what else you might get, such as an Outstanding school catchment or a shorter commute.

Other costs being equal, what are your neighbours like? It was when our lovely ones moved out and toerags moved in that I realised I was done.

Honestly op everyone i know that has had building work done has been royally ripped off by the builders. Even the good ones seem to factor in your contigency when quoting. Our build cost over £400k (its big though) and when we were going through figures at the end(when i had actually run out of money) .. we were quoted £270k for a turn key service. I was told that they weren't over because it included my (£100k) contingency and extras (there are no extras - more like not bothers). Like wtf. What other supplier includes your savings when they are calculating your bill. Mine used my contingency and didn't actually do all the work they were meant to do- so a year on we are still decorating (ourselves) and none of the outside work is done. God knows when we will be able to afford it as i had to put my kitchen on a credit card.

There is also usually no point in taking any action against them as the litigation risk all sits with you - a home owner generally with equity. They just close their company if it doesn't go their way.

I have 2 friends who basically had builders do a bunk. I don't know anyone who came in on budget. Countless others where it cost ££££ more than expected.

We had a project manager and an architect and it was still a shit show.

Unless you have double your budget - move.

Mine was £60k 10 years ago so i seriously doubt it now unless you are building it yourself. The kitchen alone will be around £10k for fairly basic and assuming you are reusing appliances

Wow this must have been traumatic! 😮

What did you decide to do in the end?

We decided we'd move. The house we found meets our needs perfectly, so we are not sacrificing anything by moving from our current house, and even if we could just squeeze in an extension for the same money, it would come with an upheaval of the building work, and we are happy to avoid that. If by any chance our sale/purchase falls through, then we will go with the extension in the near future, but we are keeping our fingers crossed we can move.