Loft extensions - worth it?

[feb1982]

Are they worth it for the hassle/cost/return on value/to avoid moving costs and stamp duty? For a small semi-detached 3 bed Victorian house in a popular, well connected (and expensive!) Surrey town - one bedroom is a box room and the side return has not been done.

In terms of adding value to your property, I'd say loft has the most bang for its buck as you are adding extra rooms.

In terms of lifestyle, I'd say side return has more as making a lovely downstairs living space is really impactful.

Depends on lots of things - ie: if you can afford loft but not side return, I'd do loft. If you need an extra bedroom, again loft. If you want to sell sooner, loft. If you don't need the extra bedroom but can afford side return, do that.

The mess... well all building work is mess and hassle and expense and stress. So you always have the choice to do no building work at all! If you have kids, allow for an Airbnb during the works in your budget. If you don't and you want to be economical you can live downstairs during works (we did) though it's horrible and gross with the dust.

You can always ask an estate agent to value with + without a loft and bear that in mind when you get quotes. Because obvs you don't want to spend more than you'd add in value.

What have your neighbours done? On my street just about everyone has extended out back and done the loft. Extrnding iut back first as otherwise they are just two rooms (no side returns) and it’s cheaper. Also be careful of unbalancing a house. No point adding a fourth bedroom if you don’t have a decent sized kitchen and living room. But yes, it’s worth it.