Cost of an extension

And out importantly get a copy of your council’s guide to extensions, especially if you live in a Conservation Area or AONB .

Any reputable architect will know it inside out, but it may help you tether your desires to reality .

I took my concerns about my neighbour’s extension to the LGO and won . Such victories are rarer than hen’s teeth .

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We had two bedrooms and a bathroom as a loft conversion and extended the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen also meant adding a new back door arrangement to the utility room. I think the fixed quote was £68k for 40sq m. We paid all the bills for materials direct with the suppliers and every few weeks we’d get an invoice showing the spend coming off the fixed cost. If we’d not changed a few things it would have come in on the original budget. The extras included an extra velux window and a window in the kitchen. Building holes for windows costs more. The overall spend was around £120k but this includes the kitchen and bathroom as well as fitting engineered oak floor in the kitchen and hall. This work was done three years ago. You’ll live with the dust up to around a year after it’s finished. Our build said this he wasn’t far wrong. If you’ve got a decent vacuum cleaner put it away buy a cheap second one. Brick and cement dust don’t agree with vacuum cleaners! Our build overran by about 2 months. Most of the time it’s good fun but it can get you down. The house was originally a bungalow and when it came to cutting through for the stairs I was advised to go out for the day and I’m glad I did. What a mess but eventually you get it all sorted. It’s worth taking lots of pictures just to remind yourself in a few years time what you went through!!

Ackers

Entirely concur. A few years ago we had an Estate Agent to give us a valuation.

Despite him being amazed that we had a garden at least 2.0-2.5 times the size of all other properties on the street, he said unfortunately that whilst very desirable, especially if we were a few streets away in more expensive properties, that there is a limit to what the market will pay on a given street/road. Typically the large ‘out of keeping garden’ was a major motivation for us at the time.

In addition he said it’s also a matter that concerns lenders - they are far less likely to go ahead with a mortgage offer for a property price far outwith the norm for the street/area even if a prospective purchaser is happy with it.

If you want to experience mixed emotions re accomodation then decide you want to build a brand new building on an empty plot.
We found and bought a plot, we had to fight the local council to get planning permission, we had the guidance of a project manager with good local knowledge of the trades people - each with their unique ways of working and scheduling.
Was it successful - well we are still here 46 years later.

That would require us to move out and is something I am very reluctant to do.

Looking at the houses on our road, they range from £1.2million to £325,000, so I’m finding it hard to figure out what the ceiling is!

Is it a very long road where housing styles morph or just a diverse variety of housing styles there?

My comment earlier related to fairly homogeneous properties on my road, where extensions or varying garden sizes are about it. Other roads nearby have a vast array of styles from flats to multi-million pound detached properties.

We did an extension 3 years ago. Central belt of Scotland, so probably bang on national average. Cost was £1,750 per sq mtr. My builder client tells me prices are up 30% since then, pretty much across the board. He no longer offers mates rates, darn him :blush:

Currently have an extension ongoing…well I say ongoing but I haven’t seen a builder in days…phoned yesterday to say they’d be here today as the big lintel arrived on Tuesday…however…

New kitchen, just a tad under 28m2. Coming in at £1800 per m2. That includes all groundwork, underpinning, underfloor heating, etc. Labour costs probably lower here than elsewhere in UK.

The existing kitchen is behind the red door with the window in. That door will be opened up to double width so the larder is actually in the old kitchen. This necessitated upgrading the existing kitchen floor to latest regs and it’ll also have underfloor heating in what becomes a utility room.

Only thing not included in the price is tiling. Not sure how both the architect and I missed that omission. Awaiting price from the builders but there are alternatives if they’re too expensive.

Price also included some retaining wall - perpendicular from wall beside boiler room door (red door on right). We decided to do some more, right out round end of extension, once we saw the real extent of the excavation.

Currently a couple of months behind schedule, late start due to a previous project over-running and Building Control then deciding we needed structural engineer to design the underpinning.

We’ll be in by Christmas. Hopefully 2022!

Willy.

Most loft extensions can be done without having to move out. They do most of the work before breaking through to put in the stairs.

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