Getting Started

Home Extensions

We hear about them all the time. Entire TV programmes are dedicated to them. Whether it's DIY SOS, Property Ladder or on a larger scale, the more high brow and high-end Grand Designs, we are a nation obsessed with our homes and the multitude of ways we can improve them and, more importantly add value to them.
And this is probably the single, most important factor when thinking about undertaking any building work to your home.

Add 23% to your home's value

Based on an average three-bedroom British home, Nationwide calculates that adding an extension or loft conversion to your home could increase its value by almost a quarter (23%). This assumes that you increase your home's floor area by 30 square metres to create an extra double bedroom and en-suite bathroom.

So ask yourself this,

"Will I be adding value to my property equal to, or above what I will spend on improving my home?"

If the answer is "no" or you're "not sure", then back to the drawing board for you! Being able to finance your build and then recoup the cost by increasing the value of your home, will not only keep your mortgage lender happy but it wil also give you peace of mind knowing that you won't fall into negative equity. Knowing the area you live in, how the housing market has performed and slightly more difficult, assessing how it may perform in the future, are just some of the ways in which you can work out whether or not extending your home is right for you. If you are fortunate to live in an area where property is always in demand then the answer is pretty starightforward.

Check with neighbours that have carried out similar work; how easy was the process? How (in)expensive was it? What were the major issues? Were you able to live in your home while the work went on around you? These are just some of the fundamental questions you should be asking yourself.
Needless to say, the bigger the project, the bigger the scope for encountering issues.

Smaller improvements also add value

Did you know that just by adding an extra double bedroom (approx. 13sq m) could add an extra 12% to the overall value of your property? Adding an extra bathroom could push up the price by a further 6%. Of course these values all depend on the finish and the quality of materials used but typically a single storey extension to a 3-bedroom home can cost upwards of £23,000 or £1000 per square metre.

Ultimately, the choice of how you improve your home is down to

• how much you can afford
• how much disruption you can put up with

In our case, and after much discussion and deliberation, we decided that the one area that needed most improvement was our kitchen. However, at that point, what we didn't predict was how quickly this would soon escalate into a full-blown, side and rear extension.

So on to stage one: the design.