Estimating cellar conversion costs

bitsandpieces

I'm looking at a house for sale that has a cellar that opens out onto the garden (the ground level at the back is a good bit lower than the front door). It looks dry (though I'm not a surveyor...) and has lights, but doesn't have finished floors, ceilings etc. and would want the floor levelling out and taking down a little if it were to be used as a room.

I've been struggling to work out the likely cost of a cellar conversion. Builders want architects' drawings so they know what work is involved, and the specialist company I contacted want £250 to provide a quote. Is there a way to work out the likely rough cost per square meter?

This is a house in a small Scottish city with low-ish property prices - the house is under £200k. I'm seeing lots of stories about people paying £100k+ for a luxury cellar extension on central London properties - which would no way make sense here, but then I don't want swimming pool etc! If I could add another room for £20k or so, though, this could make for a very nice home to buy...

Rambosmum

North of England, friends have had a quote of 50k to tank one room, relocate meters, rebuild wall and add in door way to other wall, tank 'store' and turn in to shower room, dig out second room (currently on partially dug out), tank that. Doesn't include fittings, electrics or plastering. The first room is the main cost of that, the digging out and sorting second room is around £20k, as they are already onsite etc.

Doozergirl

London is about the only place that a cellar conversion will pay financially, put it that way.

It is hugely more expensive and problematic than extending anywhere else on a property. £100k plus on a luxury property in London is actually nothing. They spend far more than that on on the luxury element but the building costs are still massive because of the work being undertaken and it is only the land value that pays them for doing it. Building regulations are going to be the same where you are.

The company that wanted £250 to quote you would be able to say where their prices usually start without visiting you.

If a garage concersion costs in the region of £10k, a loft in the region of £20k, and these are existing spaces, be assured that a cellar is more again. The amount of digging will have an effect on how much more.

One cannot quote without knowing how the house is constructed.

bitsandpieces

Doozergirl wrote: »

London is about the only place that a cellar conversion will pay financially, put it that way.

Thanks - that's helpful to know. So it's not likely to pay off on a sub-£200k house, then?

Thanks both for the replies. Disappointing to hear, but sounds likely that an extension would be a good bit more than would make sense given the price of larger houses in the area.