Move or extend? Prestwich, Greater Manchester

[Nills]

We live in a 3 bed semi in Prestwich.

We have one preschooler and another on the way, and we feel the house is just too small. When we were just a couple we thought we would never have to move but now I find the kitchen is too small, having to leave the DC playing alone in the living room whilst nipping back and forth. Dining room has pet stuff, deskspace and dining table and feels cramped. The bedrooms are small and can't even get a single bed in the 3rd bedroom.

We will have to move or extend, but at a crossroads as to which. I should caveat that we won't be able to really do either until the end of 2025 for various reasons, mainly mat leave.

Our budget as current circumstances stand would be an absolute maximum of £425k, preferably less. Unfortunately that isn't buying us much more space in Prestwich.

On the one hand we love the area, reluctant to move little one when she is so settled at school, and so extending seems the straightforward option. However with a potential budget of £100k-£120k I don't think I'm going to be getting the double extension and loft conversion with new kitchen and bathroom I'd like.

We would be open to moving but DH works in office in town, limited WFH, and so we need an easy public transport option to the centre of Manchester. We are spoilt with the met where we are. I do find the idea of moving a bit daunting.

I'm just asking for perspectives to help us make up our mind.

Is extending troublesome and costly? Any areas of Manchester with good public transport links we could get a sizable three bed house with kitchen diner in our budget?

Our floorplan attached!

The house seems a reasonable size.

Have you thought about knocking through from the kitchen to dining room to make a bigger open plan space there?

i also think 100-120 should do the best part of a kitchen / dining extension and a loft conversion. Its a decent sum of money.
if not, start with one and work towards the other?

Hello, we were in the same position and decided to go with extension. We do have 4 (not massive) bedrooms so just going with single storey 3 metre extension and garage conversion. TBH I’m not 100% confident it’s the most sensible move as costs are so high but we love where our house is and are too far down the line now to change.
Architect/engineer/council fees were over £5k alone.
Builder is about £80k.
Kitchen is £12k incl appliances and worktop
Floor is £2.5k
Doors £2k
etc etc
Probably loads more to come.
Not sure it’ll add the same in value to the property although of course will be great to have the space once done.

However at this moment in time, I’m wondering if we should have just moved.

I grew up in prestwich and in my opinion it is overpriced although a lot of the houses are lovely. Also traffic is appalling! My mum is still living there. We live in M6 Salford and love the area - very green, good schools, similar houses although you get a lot more for your money. Secondary schools probably not as good as Prestwich though. If it was me I would move but I guess I have a biased opinion as I have already done it haha. I also work in Manchester and find the commute easier from where we are now.

Unfortunately that would cost us storage space- we have lots stored on both sides of that dining wall and nowhere to put it. I wouldn't create a kitchen diner without also doing an extension.

It is a decent sum but unfortunately with building what it is won't get us as far as we would hope. We wouldn't expect to be able to borrow heaps more in future.

We are trying to declutter to maximise the space!

That's supremely helpful thank you!

Especially about all the fees beforehand as we were thinking it will cost us around £10k in moving costs, stamp duty, conveyancing etc thinking we could put that towards a builder instead but actually there's lots of other incidentals aren't there.

I live in the SE so costs are higher, but we had a similar conundrum and went with move. £100k down here doesn't get you enough and the hassle of trying to secure flaky tradesmen, unexpected costs and the pressure of it whilst having young kids was a big no. We did our loft conversion 5 years ago but would need a double storey side extension to make our existing house worth it. Also there's a ceiling price on our road.

So we've bitten the bullet and are adding £150k to our mortgage. For that, we get an extra bedroom, an office, more storage and detached property rather than semi.

It totally depends on whats it's like where you are, but don't underestimate the stress of an extension (our loft conversion took 9 months - during Covid - and once you start extending, the rest of the house looks shabby and you'll want to update it too!).

Also, it looks like your house doesn't have a porch or hallway. What do you do with shoes/coats? £425 seems like a lot for Manchester with that layout.

I can see that your existing house will be far from ideal once the family grows - no downstairs loo for example & on the small side for a family of 4.

Personally, I would be planning to move at the end of 25/ early 26. That gives you plenty of time to research alternatives and keep a keen eye on the local property market. I just wouldn’t want the stress & unpredictable renovation costs while also juggling life with 2 young children.

Our current house value is about £280k- we could also borrow up to £150k more than our current mortgage but in our area that wouldn't get us a detached still. We could however get a bigger house with large kitchen diner etc. As there are a variety of housing types on our road there isn't really a ceiling. A 5 bed semi on the road is on for £650k.

Lack of porch definitely winds me up! We have a coats and shoes storage area next to the door but it is a dumping ground.

Thank you for the realism about what a extension would entail! I really have one foot in both camps!

Yes, personally I would think; if you had £425k now, could you get better than what you have planned (and coated) for your extension? I would 100% want a hallway with space to store coats and shoes so if it was me I would cut my losses and move to a house that either has everything you want, or is cheaper with the potential to extend, but a better existing layout.