Is it possible to do a cheap small rear extension

[Melcl1987]

Hi, I have offered on a house in se lomdon which is nice but has one key drawback - it lacks a decent space for a dining table. There is a utility space at the back of the house that could be removed to try ams create space for it but its currently too narrow. We don't have the funds for a full on extension but just wondering how much a smallish extension to the utility space might cost e.g. 1.5m x 1m? Is there a chance it wouldn't cost much less than a larger extension?

Cheap and building work unfortunately do not go hand in hand atm! You may also have a bit of a problem getting people to quote- we are currently building a much larger project, and it was difficult even than!

It depends how little you want to pay, however you could look into something like this:

https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/addroom-garden-rooms/modular-extensions/

Just bear in mind that you need to budget for (potential) customisation and (definite) installation costs, including suitable base/foundation.

I had a similar dilemma and looked into conservatories/add rooms vs extension. For a 3*3 m conservatory it was coming up to 25k with installation. It was just more economical to save up more and have a proper extension built.

The biggest cost is the foundations, and that's the same with a small one-storey extension as a slightly larger two-storey one.
So, no, I don't think it's possible to do it very cheaply.

in London all work is expensive.

Something that small could be cheap if you fall into permitted development and do the most basic (basically a porch style).

Extensions can be much cheaper if done yourself rather than hiring builders etc... but obviously most people do not have knowledge and skill to do that. Novices should not try building anything that could collapse onto people.

You generally find that economies of scale come into play with building and it's cheaper per sqm to go bigger. As a pp mentioned, the biggest costs are usually the foundations. However, you don't know until you get quotes - have you got any contacts already, any mates in the trade that could take a look and give you a very rough estimate?

Only if you are capable of doing some of the work yourself. Plenty of advice on you tube. You need building regulation consent for just about everything and that can mean waiting for someone to inspect your foundations if you try diy. Personally I wouldnt attempt diy for foundations that need to be flat and level.

It's a tricky one, maybe worth getting some builders quotes? We used a company in London called home tales for ours, though a fair bit bigger than what you're considering, who gave us a free estimate when we enquired.