Move or extend?

[Fizhy]

We've owned our home for over 13 years. It's a typical 3 bed semi but the downstairs has been extended 3 times already by the previous owners. Upstairs has not been extended. So it's very bottom heavy and we have very little space upstairs.

We purchased the property with a view to moving at some point in the future but also knew it had the space to grow with us. However, we now have 2 little kids and it's starting to feel a tight squeeze and like we've outgrown it. I wfh and currently have to move around and perch myself in a room that isn't being used (usually one of the kids rooms!).

Our dilemma is that our mortgage is currently tiny. We pay £430 a month. We have around £200k in equity. This means we have a very comfortable lifestyle and I work part-time. Looking at 4 bed properties, most of the time we are losing space downstairs compared to what we have now but gaining an extra bedroom and a better overall layout downstairs. But the mortgage repayments would more than double.

The layout of our current downstairs isn't great - but we do have a downstairs bathroom, utility space and conservatory which we have turned into a playroom (although it's not ideal as we live on a hill and the conservatory doesn't flow off the back of the house like you'd expect so it often feels a bit wasted and doesn't really get used as it's awkward to get to).

We can't decide whether to plough the money we would spend on moving into our current home and look at a side extension above our garage and converting the garage to create additional space upstairs and downstairs (lots of houses on our street have already done this). We have no idea how much this would cost and we know it might depend on the foundations under the garage. We would also look at trying to make the layout of our downstairs a bit more suitable which would involve a new kitchen and possibly knocking through to the conservatory to make this room more accessible. We don't know if this is doable because our conservatory isn't on the same level as our kitchen so would require quite a bit of work.

or so we just accept that we need/want to do too much to the house and move? Knowing we'd probably be compromising on downstairs space? Either way we think cost wise it will probably be similar (but we don't know for sure). And I'm not sure what's worse - moving or renovating a house with two young kids...

Do you have a floor map?

How old are the kids?
How are schools in your current catchment?

If your current neighbourhood is perfect in many ways, I would renovate.
Getting accurate costings is worthwhile.
Are there other reasons why you would want to move to a new area?

@Lemoneyey I've attached the floor plan from when we purchased the property. We've made a few changes with knocking through walls and moving doors but you'll get the general ideal. We don't have a hallway which is one of my biggest bugbears as we have to traipse all through the house to get to the back. The conservatory also drops down a level and the utility space is at the top.

kids are 2 (just) & 4.

eldest has just started school last sept. The school is fine. To be honest it's pretty slim pickings around where we are and she's in one of the better ones. Secondary school is currently pretty poor but again seems to be an issue for all secondaries around here and we've got a good few years for things to change. She's settled there but we would move her if we moved any distance.

my husband is looking at a new estate a few miles away which has just opened a brand new primary which does look amazing and they have great facilities but obviously it's new so nobody knows how it will actually perform. And I don't know if we would get her in because they have reduced intake over the next few years whilst the estate is built/finished so I've got a feeling it's possibly full already.

@user1492757084 the area we live in is fine. It's not great - think outskirts of quite a deprived town but the actual area where are in is nice. Neighbours are lovely and the street is very quiet. My husband really wants to move to a village a few miles down. He thinks it will give the kids a better lifestyle but I'm not totally sold on it being worthwhile.

If the costs are the same (and that is a big if) and if there is another property you like (also a big if) then I’d suggest moving rather than extending, as a larger property will give you more options for the future and will probably involve less disruption.

Do you know what the building work involves ? i.e. can you live in your home during the works ? or do you need to find temporary accommodation ? And how many months ? What about overruns ?

Or do nothing, get used to having limited space and a comfortable life. I’d probably do that.

Is a loft conversion not an option?

Get a loft conversion co to come and give you a quote / estimate.

You might need to check whether you need planning permission if the previous extensions have used up the permitted development allowance.

Look at the costs of moving including Stamp duty, EA fees, legal fees, survey, removal costs etc and compare to extension costs.

Also consider that if you move to a house with more beds you might be paying more stamp duty. You don't pay stamp duty on any extensions you do yourself.

@FullOfLemonsabsolutely no idea what it would involve so if anyone can tell me that would be great 😂. I'm assuming we would stay living in the house as most of the works would be to the side and wouldn't affect our current living space but I might be being totally naive.

In an ideal world we'd move to a larger property that has everything we want/need - I.e more upstairs space and no compromise on what we have downstairs. But the reality is that in over a year of looking we've realised these kinds of properties are waaaay out of our budget so we need to compromise somewhere. And that compromise might be staying put and doing nothing but I don't think my husbands onboard with that one.

@TheatreTheatreloft conversion is a possibility. My mind straight away goes to but where will I put all the stuff that's stored up there?! We've accumulated a lot of Christmas & Halloween decorations not to mention the baby stuff I can't part with because.... what if we have another (unlikely but I can't let go). I know I'd probably have to be ruthless 😂 but it's handy storage space up there.

I had no idea about permitted development allowance so thank you I'd need to look into that. Although if we were going on top of an existing garage would this still be an issue?

To be honest the moving costs are another reason I'm leaning towards staying. When we spoke to an estate agent he said to put aside around £20k to cover stamp duty, legal fees, moving costs etc and I keep thinking we could better use that money.

Bear in mind that there will be a ceiling price for your road and that if you extend further, you may not recoup the money. Fine, if you intend to be there long term, but should you wish to move in the future, it could be an issue.

Depends if you like where your house is really and whether you like the plot? We are in a similar position having outgrown our house, we bought our house 10 years ago with 0 children and neither of us working from home, we now have 3 children and we both 100% wfh. We have decided against extending as the overall plot isn't big enough, we do have a garden but if we spend 120k probably more as we want a massive wrap around extension plus an extra bedroom above the garage, I'd like to live on a better plot for the total we'd spend. I'd also worry about hitting the ceiling for what our house could be worth once it is done. We have 3 children at a great school that feeds into a great high school, we will move but it will be within a mile or so of where we are now so they won't have to move schools, we like the area we just need a bigger/better plot.

In your position I'd think about whether the location and schools are somewhere you want to stick with for the next 10 years or whatever, if not I'd get on with it sooner to reduce the upheaval of moving for your child that is already at school.

That downstairs layout is absolute madness. Some very odd decision-making there from previous owners.

What I would do in your scenario is get an architect round and get them to draw up a few different plans for how you could get a better downstairs layout (with and without extension). It'll be a couple of hundred pounds, but will aid your decision-making significantly.

I.e. You could look at those plans and go...
A) Oh, at least one of those is lovely, and I think we'd love living here..
B) None of these really work or get us excited (particularly compared to that new build we saw on Rightmove last night), so let's think about moving...
Etc.

You mentioned the garden is uneven or is just the conservatory part? I think if you're happy with the garden and schools for the next 7-8 years, I might be tempted to do the work... Building second story on garage, need new foundations likely, you put your own master bedroom and shower there, so the kids go to the existing 2 big bedrooms and storage/playroom/study in the box room. I'd also knock through dining and kitchen and put playroom in dining area even if it's not ideal but you see the kids and can interact with them while you all cook. Conservatory can be dining room if it has a bigger space and not too cold, if you really wanted a separate dining area.
Garage here won't be conversion, likely if foundations need changing, it will be like 70-100k£ job... You can get some quotes and see how it works for you against moving. My main thing is always schools, so you'd have to be happy with primary school, and garden/plot, and then decide?

@Buscobelthat is a good point. There was a house further up the street which has done the work we're thinking about and that sold for £30k more than ours has been valued at so we definitely wouldn't recoup the money spent. But if we did do the work then this would 100% be where we would stay long-term.

@IdleThoughtswe do like where our house is although my husband does have a bee in his bonnet about wanting to be detached for some reason. We have a decent sized garden and did a lot of work to it a few years back to make it more suitable for the kids. Because ours has already been extended downstairs we wouldn't be eating anymore into our outside space.

@TheOtherBearyeah the downstairs layout isn't great. We have made some changes - like the bathroom isnt off the dining room anymore because we put a wall up and we knocked through the kitchen and dining room. Good idea about getting an architect though. I don't mind spending a few hundred if it means we make the right decision either way.

@Lemoneyeythe garden is on a slope. It used to be on split levels but we had it levelled off but that means it's quite a steep incline. The conservatory is dropped down quite considerably from the rest of the house. We've already kind of knocked through our kitchen and dining room but there's not really any room for a playroom as we put a wall up to separate the bathroom off. To be honest I'd be happy if the quotes came back around that. We would have a budget of around £150k for everything.