Ground floor extension then first floor later ??

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Hello All,

Has anyone ever done a home refurbishment in two stages? Ground floor first then the first floor at a later stage.

We have recently bought a home that liveable and in a very good condition yet still very dated.

Presently, the house has on the:

1. Ground floor: lounge, 1 bedroom, kitchen, dining room and family bathroom
2. First floor: 2 bedrooms

What we would like is:

1. Ground floor: 6m extension into the garden to create open plan kitchen-diner, utility room, convert family bathroom to shower room/ downstairs toilet

1. First floor: extension to create en-suite to the master bedroom, a family bathroom and a third bedroom.

Our current budget is about £120K which is not enough as we're in the SE hence thought perhaps we'll tackle ground floor first, to completion but first floor only to first fix/ shell stage and complete later.

Does this sound sensible/feasible?
Anyone tried this before?

Thank you for any responses.

I’d ask a builder or your architect. They might have ideas . Obvious is to make sure foundations can take two storeys if the first floor extension is going over the ground floor extension. If you need planning permission I think the permission lasts 5 years. But maybe you can do first stage only finished in part. And complete the shell part later. Good luck!

I would say get the shell if you are not planning to move out during the second phase.
You are also looking extra cost for the first roof and stripping it off as the second story is built on top. So risk water damage etc to the first phase.

Otherwise you need to make sure your plan is detailed with structural issues and finish details resolved for both projects.

Two building sites in the garden
Chasing walls twice
Then matching windows and external finishes
Second builder is relying on the correct structural work to carry the extra load and should cost in unfound errors.
Adding work cost as plumbing and electrics are 2 small jobs which the second guy is siging off on. An electrician I know will not take on the risk of signing off on patching into old works as he could be held responsible for past shoddy work by unquallifed people.

I dont think build prices will fall over time and you could use your current "second hand" kitchen and utility units, walk on builder finish concrete floors etc while saving for the dream fitout. So its somewhat down to what you can live with short term.

PP lasts for three years. Development has to be commenced within that 3 year period but there is no limit on how long the build takes. Once started PP generally lasts forever.

@AnSolas thank you. The plan is get both ground and first floor to first fix level so all structural (including final roof) and foundational elements and plumbing and electrics are in place. The first floor we'll continue to second fix with all fittings, floorings etc ..basically get it to completion now but second floor extension remains at first fix until we've saved a bit more.

I'd be very cautious that your £120k will cover your downstairs AND upstairs to first/second fix? We're in London so obvs a bit higher than SE generally but we're about to do a similar extension, complete rejig of kitchen, install ufh throughout and then a tiny first floor bathroom extension and refurb of existing bathroom and it's about £220k plus fixtures and fittings, kitchen etc on top of that. We had 7 quotes and this not cheapest but was the best value. Building costs are bonkers these days.