Loft Conversion - Yes or No?

zsuzsa

We're thinking of doing a loft conversion to add value to our 3-bedroom detached house. We're likely to move in a few years' time and the primary purpose of the conversion would be to increase the value of our home by adding a fourth bedroom. We've done some preliminary research on the Internet and found conflicting information about this. According to a conservative estimate loft conversions typically add only around 10% to the overall value of the property. Our house is worth around £230,000-£250,000 at the moment and a proper conversion would cost around £20,000-£25,000. Based on this information, there wouldn't seem to be much point in getting this job done, as we would only get our investment back with a marginal profit if any or we might even end up losing a couple of thousand.

However, a friend of mine up the road has just had a loft conversion done to their 2-bedroom terraced house. It cost them £20,000 and the local estate agent estimated a £40,000 increase in value to the property, which would represent approximately 22%. Is that realistic at all?

Any input appreciated, thank you.

Doozergirl

You're in dodgy territory around the £250k stamp duty threshold. You need to be absolutely sure that the conversion will carry you over it to the tune of around £280k otherwise you could lose money.

You have a detached house and if it's not too close to the neighbours, it probably won't be seen as overdeveloping, but I would never like to be the first one in the street to try.

As far as 2 bed terraces go, they often don't work because it becomes a family home; parking and gardens start to become issues as they don't balance the living space. I'd only take an EAs valuation with a pinch of salt on that one.

thesaint

Ask the Estate Agent that your friend used what the value of yours is now, and if you had the work done.

lush_walrus

Hhhm, loft conversions rarely add the value that they have cost back onto a property in my experience. Unless you actually want it, personally I wouldn't bother.

What about an extension elsewhere, do you have space to extend the grd floor? This is generally cheaper and more likely to add more value than it costs.

fivemice

I think if it were me I would leave it, but make sure that the brochure pointed out that the loft was suitable for conversion. We have been viewing quite a lot of properties and are definitely drawn to the ones with a possibility of extension or conversion, just incase the house prices do drop and we end up in negative equity and can't move but still want to expand our family IYSWIM.

TTMCMschine

That's good thinking fivemice - a lot of people have had to extend instead of move.

If i were looking for a house, as long as it had enough reception rooms, a conversion wouldn't bother me - i wouldn't want to pay for an extra room if it didn't need it. The are times where i can see some houses it would make a definite difference as well - if they have the landing space to put in a proper staircase. However most staircases i've seen have been built in the airing cupboard (i kid you not), and i always think it looks like a compromise, and that can be a negative feature to a house. I wouldn't like to have to use that for my bedroom.

To me it's bit like when someone's added an en-suite shower room. Nothing puts me off buying a house more than some poxy en-suite, especially if it means you lose bedroom space, and they already have a tiny third bedroom. Or a conservatory, where they only have a tiny garden left. If a house has the space to do it, fine - if not, it feels like it's trying to be something it's not, and i wouldn't even consider looking at it.

My advice would be:

If it has good downstairs space - i wouldn't bother, most people do not need an extra bedroom if it has the reception space.

Only do it if it doesn't look like you've had to comprimise - e.g you've got spare space. My only exception to this would be if you have a very tiny third bedroom, and even then. Remember the positive of having an extra room, can be a negative if you've lost out on something else.

Having more rooms can be useful, but if you have too many it can be a bind. A sofabed in a dining room would be a good enough spare room for me. How often do people realistically have guests to stay over?

A much more useful conversion i've seen more recently - and this is on a totally personal note, is a garage conversion to an office space. To us (hubby works from home) - that would be far more useful. i would say however this is a more personal opinion for me. I would find a double garage useless, but office space would float our boat. If your garage is just full of junk anyone - it may be worth doing some research to find out if it's more useful. I'd think it was cheaper to do. However i know some people would prefer a garage so it's a double-edged sword.

zsuzsa

Thanks for all the replies so far. It seems this issue is a bit more complicated than we first thought and all kinds of aspects need to be taken into consideration. Maybe it's best not to take any risks and let the new owners decide whether they want to extend the property or not. The potential is definitely there, we'll just make sure they know about it.