Could someone give me a ballpark figure for the cost of a renovation?

[NeverBeAPart]

DH has come up with a Plan to extend our house, and he thinks it’s brilliant. I think the house is big enough as it is, and that we’d be spending a lot of money to give ourselves more space to clean & heat. He’s convinced it wouldn’t be all that expensive compared to the value it would add to the house.

Now, I’m not convinced we’d even get planning permission, but I’m more interested in a ballpark figure for the cost, because he seems to think it would be about £20k (this is not really based on anything other than that’s that’s what he’d like it to cost) and I’d like to give him a more accurate idea (and hopefully put him off the entire idea).

The plan involves removing the entire front of the house and changing the staircase. Currently it goes (from the landing) down a few steps and then a little “landing” and then down to the right, so it’s L-shaped basically, and runs along the front wall of the house. He wants it to just go straight down from the landing, into the new extension (so perpendicular to the current front wall).

He’d then basically rebuild the front of the house around that, 2 storeys, to create an extra room on each floor.

Could anyone give me a ballpark figure of what this would cost? I’m thinking that the £20k wouldn’t even cover moving the staircase (even if it could magically go through the front wall). Would we be talking £50k, £100k? We’re in the north, so building work possibly slightly cheaper than if we were in London.

I’m currently spending £45k just on a new kitchen (including appliances, moving electrics and plumbing, plastering, decorating, tiling and new flooring, but no extra space or walls coming down). The other quote I got for the same was £55k.

This is a great description! He is 100% Tigger! I’d let him plow on, but I’m worried he’d actually get a builder out and then make an idiot of himself when the guy told him the estimate and DH fainted or laughed or something!

I would guess £200-250k. We are currently spending £150k on much less.

I think £20,000 plus a £200,000 contingency allowance should do it.

Although I suppose it depends where you are and whether you can do any of the work yourselves.

AI says total cost c 100-130k for the building works, not furnishing, decorating etc

I was about to say the same.

It's also much harder to get planning permission to alter the front of a house, unless you are quite far away from surrounding houses. Planners want things to be 'in keeping' with the street and there are rules around building forward of your neighbours.

Bless him. You're getting nothing for 20K these days. Building costs are totally insane.

Thanks everyone! You’ve confirmed what I was thinking! We wouldn’t be doing any of it ourselves except the decorating, so no savings to be made there. And we really have no need for it, other than DH wanting a bigger house, to be honest!

Some of it depends where you are, and what the spec will be- either way, £20k won't take you anywhere. An architect and structural calculations will eat up a third or so at a minimum (maybe more as it doesn't sound simple)

A lot of councils won't approve anything that changes the streetscape- so an extension on the back is more likely to be approved than one on the front.

We couldn't do that for 20k and DH is a builder, the materials alone would probably cost that!
Unless you are completely detatched and in your own grounds or others in your neighbourhood have front extentions you probably wouldn't get planning anyway.

Oh my gosh OP he really is clueless bless him. Yes you're looking at 6 figures based on here in the North West, and definitely planning permission needed for anything at the front of the house. There is no harm in getting a few builders to quote and give him a reality check. Anyone quoting £20k I would run a mile 🫣

Maybe that’s what needs to happen for him to realise how completely out of touch he is!

Hahahahahaaa!! A new bathroom or kitchen is about £20k. I had a loft conversion done 25yrs ago and that was £45k.

I'd love to live in your DH's dream world!

£20k? Is he kidding? A side return infill is about £75k, a loft conversion (with en suite) about £90k…I remodelled a bathroom and it was £7,500.
If you get so far as to get quotes - double them and double the time they say it will take. Also an architect is not a good source for costing things out, you need a quantity surveyor.

We had an architect back in 2012 who reckoned our kitchen extension (single storey but with a vaulted ceiling so with double height window overlooking our rural 0.3 acre garden) in Wilts would cost 20k for the shell 🙄

The build eventually cost 45k - before the kitchen cabinets, limestone flooring etc were added - and that was us mostly DIYing it. I imagine it would be 100-150k to DIY it now, because of the cost of building materials.

Yours definitely sounds like it would be 200k+ @NeverBeAPart and as other posters have said, I reckon you'd struggle with approval to make changes to the streetscape.