New extension -stay as 3 bed or make into 4 beds?

nick187

Hi, looking for some advice !
We are currently extending, building on top of the garage to make another bedroom, with hopefully a small ensuite squeezed in.

My builder is now suggesting we make the existing 3rd bedroom (box room) into an ensuite as the configuration of new bedroom would make it difficult, although not impossible to squeeze in an en-suite into new bedroom.

My question is in terms of resale and value, what would people prefer ? Keep the house as a 3 bed with box room converted into en-suite OR

Squeeze in a very small ensuite into bedroom 4?

Thanks in advance!

Doozergirl

How big are the bedrooms?

Cakeguts

Have you had a structural engineer check that the foundations and walls of the garage will take another storey on top of them?

nick187

Ok let me elaborate , so we are currently a 3 bed , 2 double rooms and 1 box room.
We are well underway with extension , so all planning /building control etc fine.
The planned 4th bedroom on top of garage is more of an L shape due to loss of light from next door neighbours so we compromised , builder is saying if we want to squeeze in a very small corner en-suite it will really compromise the room space , he is right in my opinion but my wife is saying well we are spending a lot of money just to remain a 3 bed house with an en-suite if we convert 3rd box room......she also has a point..confused!

Cakeguts

Where is the box room in relation to the kitchen and bathroom? The point is that if the box room is in the front and the kitchen and bathroom in the back you are going to have to connect the plumbing from front to back. If the ensuite is in the same part of the house as the kitchen and existing bathroom it will save some digging?

nick187

Box room is at the front and kitchen bathroom at back however drainage already in place as we have wc downstairs directly below....

Doozergirl

So what will be the dimensions of your new bedroom and the ensuite if it's in the extension?

It's a hard one.

Perhaps you could use the box room as your dressing room? That way you clear a lot of furniture from your master bedroom and you maintain the flexibility of a 4th bedroom.

hazyjo

Hard to say without seeing it, other houses in your street, and knowing where and what your market is like and the ceiling price in your road.

However, saying that, I currently have a 2/3 bed house. The 3rd bed has a single in, but is around 9' long, and less than 5' wide.

If I ever converted my loft, I would lose that third bedroom and make it a dressing room to the main bedroom, or put the staircase in there up to the loft conversion and have a nice long open landing with a window at the end (with storage/hanging space under those stairs).

Next door (we're semi-detached) has the same house in reverse and has put 2 beds in the loft making it a 4/5 bed house. I would keep mine as a 3 bed and put just one big bedroom with en-suite in the loft.

I would still 'make' money on that. That's enough for me. I'm not a property developer trying to squeeze every penny out of a build. It would sell much easier as a really big luxurious 3 bed than a 5 bed slightly cramped house. Next door ended up taking theirs off the market when they were trying to sell as they were a bit deluded as to price and thought they'd get what a good 4/5 bed would be worth. They had also dropped the price a couple of times. It's the same footprint as mine but started off around £200k more expensive!

Have a think about when you were looking. Would you have bought a 3 double-bed house, one bedroom with good sized en-suite, or a 4 bed with cramped en-suite and one of those beds being a box room? Would you have paid more for the 4 bed? Would the cramped en-suite be in a corner of the room, or along one wall? Would it have a window? Are there other 4+ bed houses in your street?

nick187

Yes there’s a lot to think about , I don’t think this is our forever house as such but we’re definitely not going anywhere in the next 6/7 years so I’m veering towards staying as a 3 bed and using the box room as an en-suite. I’ve tried to imagine if I was a potential buyer and looking at the 4th bedroom with a oddly shaped en-suite in and I probably wouldn’t like it..ho hum , thanks for all of your input ! Appreciated

Doozergirl

If you want some help with the design of that ensuite...

getmore4less

You have to watch becoming top heavy if not creating space downstairs.

If you already have a fixed quote get the alternative priced before commitment.