How much do conservatories and loft extensions add to the value of a property?

suebfg

Would it have been possible to obtain building regs approval for an open plan conservatory do you think? It looks like it is a standard conservatory with a polycarbonate roof. Also is there a date from which building regs would have been required for this i.e. if it was built before xyz, approval wouldn't have been required?

geoffky

Has anyone ever walked past a house and seen a real living person in a conservatory because i thought they were used as large fridges for most of the year..And ovens in summer....

yoyoegg

Has anyone ever walked past a house ...

I've been using mine during evenings since Easter, but I do have a C/H radiator to keep the chill off.

GDB2222

suebfg wrote: »

Seen a really nice house that has had a conservatory added and a loft converted to form a bigger master bedroom. The loft conversion hasn't added an additional bedroom to the property though as a smaller bedroom has been cut through to provide access (the smaller bedroom is now a dressing room).

If the value of the house without these works is c £450k, how much do you think these extensions would add to the value?

To get back to the original question:

A good starting point is what the work would cost, although generally these changes don't add as much value as they cost to do.

It does not sound as though the loft extension has added much space, and having the main bedroom on a different level from the children is not everyone's cup of tea. I wouldn't pay much extra for it, although it probably cost loads to do.

The conservatory, on the other hand, does sound quite useful, so it may have added almost as much value as it would cost to build. Maybe even more!

There's the £500k limit, where the SDLT increases. Are they asking over that?

suebfg

The bedroom is in a side loft over the garage so is on the same floor as the other bedrooms. it has added approx 19 x 12 ft of additional space.

bclark

suebfg wrote: »

Would it have been possible to obtain building regs approval for an open plan conservatory do you think? It looks like it is a standard conservatory with a polycarbonate roof. Also is there a date from which building regs would have been required for this i.e. if it was built before xyz, approval wouldn't have been required?

It would have been possible to get building regs but almost certainly not with polycarbonate roof.

suebfg

Thanks - sounds like the conservatory is going to be an issue then

Yorkie1

suebfg wrote: »

The bedroom is in a side loft over the garage so is on the same floor as the other bedrooms. it has added approx 19 x 12 ft of additional space.

I'd be interested to find out what the insulation beneath the bedroom floor is like - I've seen posts on here to the effect that rooms over garages can be very cold for this reason.

suebfg

Mmmm ... I've looked on the council website at previous applications for building regs and can't find any for this property - although I can for other neighbouring properties. Does that mean that building regs approval wasn't obtained - is it possible that building regs could have been obtained without being listed on the council website???

DTDfanBoy

It all depends on just how 'open plan' the conservatory is.

It's quite common to find conservatorys where original doors to the house have been removed, obviously in this instance all you need to do to comply with building regs is to reinstate the doors.

If however the original openings in the house have been extended, ie sections of wall have been removed it's not going to be a simple job to get retrospective approval for the work, and not likely to be cheap either.

The loft conversion would have definitely needed building regs approval, it may pay to quiz the owner if you are serious about the property.

Bear in mind that while loft conversions/conservatorys will generally add value to a property when they have the required consents, they also have the ability to devalue the property if those consents have not been obtained.