Converting a loft

Ciderarmy1987

Hi

Been looking at 2 and 3 bedroom houses lately,

Does anybody have a rough idea how much it costs to convert a loft:
we have seen 3 different types:

1) converted to a bedroom with building regs etc
2) converted but not with building regs but still with permanent stairs
3) converted not with build regs and with ladder access but still with windows, carpeted and power.

Cheers

arbrighton

If you're ever going to want to move and sell on the property- whether to a cash or mortgage buyer, you're not going to find many options with options 2 or 3.

A job is only worth doing if it's worth doing properly

motherofstudents

We recentlyhad a loft conversion to provide two bedrooms, bathroom and study area on landing. It cost £15000 and done to building regs, loads of insulation, upvc windows. It's a dormer with 3 windows all along the back.

eta that was the price for the work, labour & materials but not counting the fees for planning, drawings.

moneyistooshorttomention

motherofstudents wrote: »

We recentlyhad a loft conversion to provide two bedrooms, bathroom and study area on landing. It cost £15000 and done to building regs, loads of insulation, upvc windows. It's a dormer with 3 windows all along the back.

eta that was the price for the work, labour & materials but not counting the fees for planning, drawings.

That gives some sort of ballpark figure - thanks.

Could you say how much the price was in total please - ie including the fees for planning, drawings.

I'd be interested to know more on this because I can see that my loft could be converted into a 3rd bedroom and I wonder how much that would cost in total.

lessonlearned

Google - Building Costs for Loft Conversions. There's oodles of information.

Be careful if you are developing a loft purely with immediate resale in mind - you are unlikely to recoup your initial investment. It is always better to leave your purchaser with the option "to develop and add value" - especially in the current market.

If you are extending or developing for your own use then that's a different matter.

A good ploy is to apply for planning permission. PP alone, even if not acted on, will add value to your property and you will be saved the expense, mess and hassle of developing.

One thing to bear in mind - do not over-develop a property, especially do not make it top heavy. Adding extra bedrooms will only be useful if the downstairs living area can support them.

I also agree it has to be done properly. If the conversion does not comply with full building regs then it will be almost worthless - it will not add value to your property.

mart.vader

£30,000 for one bedroom + en-suite (in London)

carslet

i would not do 2 or 3, i know of a house that had this done and they had to reduce the price buy about 40% to get someone to buy it, best going with option 1

somethingcorporate

£15k is plenty for a 1 bedroom conversion done correctly.

In this part of the country it would easily add just as much value on to the price of a house in the city centre. In our street (a row of victorian terraces) 2 beds go for £200-210k and an identical but 3 bed version is about £250k.

botchjob

we're looking to get one done soon and have been quoted in the region of £38-42k inc Vat. That's for a fairly large square foot extension in London, a better than average spec, and sorting out the heating/water system while we're at it.

For a straight forward conversion in the provinces I'd imagine you might be looking at half of that.

greenface

All depends on your spec and the structure of the roof at present. Ball park for average bed and en suite 15k-35k.