What are people's thoughts on loft conversions?

[Missillutrator]

Hello all,

I am in 2 minds about converting the loft in our 2 bed bungalow into another room. I don't want to add another story, just use the space in the loft.

I am curious and would like to hear your experience with loft conversions if you had one.

Any advice/suggestions would be helpful!

TIA

It will always be more expensive than you realise. And also very disruptive. In our case it’s cheaper to buy a bigger house than pay for a conversion. Costs are so high now for building work. And you’ve got to find someone decent that will actually commit to doing it first. I’ve had a few friends and family who have had major work done at their home in the last few years and all of them said it was highly stressful and more expensive than they realised.

Can you stand upright in your loft would be my first question?
I had my loft partially converted when the dc were teens, I could only stand upright in the middle, it was a nightmare when cleaning, changing beds etc.
Dc liked it though.
We had a velux escape hatch fitted just in case of fire.
Could you afford a dormer to add more height if needed?
It definitely gave us more space and when the dc left home we had a fab storage area to use.

My feeling is they are expensive for what they are these days and so are extensions. You are probably not going to recouperate the cost in terms of the value of the house.

I guess it depends what you want the extra room for. So for example if you want a home office, maybe a garden room would be a more cost effective way of providing space if you have a large garden.

We converted our bungalow and have two extra bedrooms upstairs and a shower room. All in the original loft space. Velux windows.

Depending on where you are in the country, as I know it varies, but in a lot of areas bungalows are at a real premium.
I always think it is a shame when people start converting the small number of bungalows that there are (in my area) into houses, rather than releasing the bungalow back on to the market and buying what is probably a more suitable house for their needs.
Probably different in those seaside areas where there are a lot of bungalows.

Mine is still classed as a bungalow, and when you need space it's cheaper to convert than move. Certainly it was in our case.

I love mine! Best thing I did to my house. Fabulous bedroom and en-suite in the space that was there all the time. It would have been far more expensive to move. And I don't want to move. I love where I live.

My house has gone up more in value than what I spent on it. It's been a win-win for me.

I have small a loft conversion off our bedroom which is used as small office space. It makes our ceiling incredibly high but I love the light from the roof window.

My sister converted hers from a bungalow to a double room and ensuite, it's utterly stunning. It took about 8-10weeks in total (summer time) and they were able to move in with the in-laws during the time. It's made a huge difference to the house with light as there are 3roof windows on each side.

I'm so jealous of it actually! If you can afford it and have a place to reside if the work is quite complex then go for it 100%.