Loft conversion - Yes or No

Thenewhouse

I just bought a property well under the market value and will be redoing it completely, new plumbing and electrics, new boiler, kitchen bathroom and complete redecoration.

The builder has just told me that the loft is big enough to convert into a huge room with bathroom without changing the roof. It is one of those edwardian terraced houses with and a square bay window on the front living room all the way to the bedroom upstairs.

Most of these houses in my area have been converted into two or three flats and Ive been told that this family home is a rare find so I intend to keep it this way (not like I have the time and money to plan flats).

My builders are only charging me 15k extra to convert the loft including materials as they've anyway got to do the plumbing and electrics.

I would need to take an additional loan of 25k for this (to add cushion incase other costs arise and to decorate) which would mean additional outgoings of 500pounds a month for 3 years and me and my husband would be scrimping off £800 left over from our monthly incomes.

The house is big enough for the two of us as it is but we've been told that adding a loft would increase the value of the property substantially- around £70k as its an upcoming area.

Are we silly to think about going ahead with this loft conversion or are we silly to think so much about going ahead ?

Davesnave

Thenewhouse wrote: »

Are we silly to think about going ahead with this loft conversion or are we silly to think so much about going ahead ?

There is probably a half way house where you do the basics of the conversion but leave it as storage till you see how the money pans out.

We have done something similar with extra space we don't need as living accommodation. This has added very little to our overall costs. Services like central heating may be planned for some extra capacity without activating it.

Doozergirl

What Davesnave said.

But make sure the struture conforms to building regs or you will waste every penny you spend. You will only see uplift in home value with a certificate.

Had the builder mentioned a structural engineer, staircase design etc?

forestwn6

Good advice from Davesnave. If you did the loft conversion at a later date it would cause major disruption in an established household. Also the cost of re-applying for planning permission would probably be greater than doing it at the present time. As the above post suggested get all the basics done and complete when convenient.

dimbo61

Would you consider doing the work now and renting out the New loft room at say £500 a month with the nice en-suite ?
You can now earn up to £7,500 a year Tax free under the rent a room scheme !
You already have unlimited wireless broadband ? Heating to keep the whole house warm ? Washing machine and dryer ?
A lodger would cost very little in extra bills but could cover the extra building costs for the next 3/5 years till you need or want the loft room.

kinger101

It could be a good idea. It you're planning on starting a family, it could mean you could stay in the house longer rather moving again in say five years. Saving your the frustration and expense of selling and buying.

Delaying the decorating part as Davesnaves suggest seems sensible. Then you could get some equity to do this once you remortgage(?) in two or three years.

Of course, you could also do it at a later date if it's going to cause three years of misery. If it really adds £70K to the property value, it would still be a good investment then.