Another wwyd stay/convert/move?

[JaffaCakesAreHalfMoon]

So we seem to be at a crossroads and struggling to make a decision!

Late 40s/early 50s two ds at secondary school. Current house 3 bed terrace lovely garden - problem is youngest ds has the small room-which is tiny, really tiny...think bed and chest of drawers that’s it!

Current mortgage runs for 10years and has approx £60k remaining options are…

Option A
Do nothing, overpay mortgage, done in 8 years, mortgage free for when the boys leave home (maybe)/Uni and are in the position to help them financially but the house isn’t bigger right now.

Option B
Convert the loft, would mean taking the term up to 13 years and adding 40k to mortgage, payments would be the same as option A but just for longer.

Option C
Move - to get anything bigger and make the move worth it we would be looking at adding another £140/£150k to the mortgage and extending the term to 15 years.

I’m conflicted and leaning towards A or B, I like the idea of being Mortgage free but we desperately need more space!

Has anyone been in a similar situation?? Or have any ideas, much appreciated!

Do you have any hallway storage? I had the small room (which admittedly doesn't sound as small as your small room) and my "wardrobe" was the cupboard in hall. It meant I had space in my room for a desk and things. However, I also moved out at 18 - I can see how if you're expecting that your children might stay with you longer then space becomes more of a priority.

@Merrow yes we’ve have put a hanging rail in the cupboard on the landing, so my ds has a wardrobe. The problem is he’s getting bigger and outgrowing the room. Also thinking to the future it’s so hard for young people to move out so he could be at home for longer. I was out the door at 17 😂

Do you have a floor plan? We had a tiny box room which was next to the master bedroom. We moved the wall across and you'd never know now. Would that be an option? Could you covert a garage?

Friend did a loft conversion. The room was always very hot and a PITA carrying washing/bedding up 3 floors. I believe there are different fire safety rules if its 3 floors too. It might have been different windows or fixings, I can't recall exactly.

My parents moved when I was 14 and I had the box room. They built a lean to/conservatory on the back so I had somewhere to hang out if friends came over. I left for Uni at 18 anyway (which was there reasoning for me having that room). It wasn’t a problem for me and I never felt resentful or chaotic either - had one of those beds with a pull out desk under it and loads of storage there. Whether teens now would want that, I’m not sure. What about a garden building for a hang out space?

On the flip side, we made our last mortgaged move in our late 40s to aim higher while we could. We don’t regret it, but it has left us with a chunky mortgage to pay off at the point of retirement if we stay here which obviously is less than ideal. Ok if we decide to downsize though as we now have v healthy equity.

If I were you, I would do the loft conversion. Kids often come back home after uni as rents have become so high. I also know 30 year olds that have lived with parents whilst they save up for a deposit. Once the children have fully left home, you can downsize and clear any remaining mortgage.

@JC03745 We had toyed with the idea of moving the wall upstairs although ds room is 6ft4 x 9ft and adjoining room is 10ft x 10ft so he would only gain about 1ft. We could also add a garden room which would be an option.

@ChopSue I wouldn’t mind moving but since the pandemic house prices have risen in our area and the gap between our house the the next house up just seems huge unfortunately, it kind of unnerves me to take out a huge amount of borrowing at this stage in life. (Not what I’d planned when I bought my first house at 25!) We also have lovely neighbours and a real community feel and are happy here.

Why not ask that youngest child whether he'd prefer to have a larger room now, or have help with finances when at university?

How old is the youngest? I would stay put. I may/may not do the loft depending on the child's age. I probably would do it, it should add significant value to your house (assuming your living space isn't tiny).

What's the age gap?

If they are a year apart, I'd suck it up.

If more like y7 & y11, I'd suggest ds2 gets a room swap when ds1 goes to Uni - yes, ds1 will be cramped in the holidays, but then ds2 would be heading off to Uni a year or so after ds1 finishes so they could swap back if ds1 needs to move back home?

Sorry - I mean if a year apart I wouldn't suck it up & would do the conversion!

I grew up in a box room and it did me no harm. My parents were in a position for us to have lovely holidays and life experiences rather than a big house. We were not rich!

Your children will be 18 before you know it! Do you have funds to give them experiences in option a or b?
Personally I'd rule out option c.

Ideally I'd say B but it sounds cheap for a loft conversion.
Could you have a garden room with bathroom that when they are older could either move into or use to host friends?

Look into clever storage solutions for everything required in the bedroom space, and move all other teen accoutrements into a garden room. Even the priciest options for brick-built garden rooms with full insulation etc are at the 25k mark, so less costly and less upheaval inside the house as well. Extensions and moving house aren't for the faint-hearted and it sounds like your home is very suitable on the whole.

My younger DD and her DH have just had a dormer loft conversion done. It goes the full depth of their 3 bed terrace and adds a 4th bedroom and an ensuite. The builders took a section of one bedroom to run the stairs up from the landing, making it a single from a double. They will now have two doubles, two singles and two bathrooms. They put the cost onto their mortgage. It is incredibly spacious now, and gives them a bigger house in an area they love.

Maybe worth getting some prices? She found a good builder by asking her plumber to recommend someone. Word of mouth is always good.

Do you know how much this cost and what set of the country is she in? We’re thinking of doing similar but think with the cost of materials and a ceiling price for terraces there’s a limit to what to pay vs moving. Thanks.

@Sprig1 @CorvusPurpureus youngest is just going into yr 7 & eldest will be in year 10.

@Baxdream yes £40k is the budget for the loft, we’ve had an architect take a look and he winced at the figures but said it may be possible with clever budgeting. Even at this amount the house will only just be worth what we’ve spent on it in total so it definitely wouldn’t be improve to move and make money.

@TeaAndStrumpets that conversion sound amazing! Do you have any idea of the budget..I’m assuming it would be way over ours 😂

Are you both genuinely happy where you are, the road, neighbours, the property and would it be a wrench to leave. If the answers are 'yes' then I'd look at options A and B.

Obviously you have no idea where your sons will be in a few years, but there will come a time when it's just the two of you. Don't suppose you have a reasonable size garden are garden to the size you could convert into another room, so rather than a larger bedroom, there's extra living space for if they (or you) have visitors.

With those ages, then, I'd be sitting both dc down & talking it over.

Ds2 is the one stuck in the smallest room - would he go for that for another 4 years if you explained that he would then get his db's room & there would be more money generally for other stuff?

OTOH - if you stick him in the loft, that might free up his room as a useful office/storage? Or would you lose it to create stairs?

I don't think your heart sounds like it's in moving...?

Convert the loft. The house is then a comfortable space for everybody and worth what you pay for it.

I would stay put. My house used to feel to small with 2 teens and me but one has now left home and the other is at uni with plans to remain in uni city.
House is perfect size for me now! Not too much to clean either.

A garden/ hangout room sounds lovely and will add value.

@JaffaCakesAreHalfMoon @sugarbyebye I will try and find out! (W. Yorks)

Dont ask your children to make the decision - it's too much responsibility. i think if you love the area, stay. a box room isn't a problem, and if your son goes to uni you can move the younger one into the larger bedroom. Kids don't need as much space as you think. A garden room is cheaper than a loft conversion if you have the space and want them to have a hang out room. You sound like you love the area and negihbours.. that counts for a lot.

Where are you in the country? Im not surprised the architect winced at £40k budget for the loft. We are in London and ours was £80k a couple of years ago so i cant imagine its got any cheaper. That was for dormer, double master suite plus shower room but excluded decorating. It also included replacing all downstairs doors with fire doors for regs and lowering the ceilings of the middle floor to give more head height in the loft (the ceiling work was about £5k of the total). Even with budgeting, id say maybe get some quotes to see if it's even a reasonable option as it may naturally discount it for you.

I got a quote for my loft doing to regs with a dormer in 2019 (small terrace in the NW) and it was £45k and that didn’t include the stairs as those are already in (it’s already a sizeable room). So I’d be interested to see if you get it for £40k. With current prices I’d expect about £70k now which is far too much for us but if we got closer to your pricing it would add half of that back in value and give me a studio space.

OK just checked, about 40k. Current house value about £290K, hope to get the loft cost back if they sell. It is in an area with rising values too.

In their case they have no garden, just a tiny back yard, so no chance of an outside office - they both WFH - so the only way was up.

Great, thanks @TeaAndStrumpets that's really useful. Yes we both work from home and have a really small yard too, so no scope for outside extensions/garden office. I might revisit this if our house purchase falls through as it would be a passable second option.