will adding a loft conversion increase the value of the house? by how much?

BlueLeaf

Hi,
We are thinking of adding a loft conversion to our house to add some much needed space, instead of moving.
But if we were to move in 5-10 years, would the value of the house be worth more with the loft conversion?
We live in a semi-detached house in Ealing, West London (3 beds / 2 baths). House is worth about £500-550K.
I assume a hip to gable + back dormer loft conversion will cost about £50-60K (1 double bedroom + en suite)? How much value would it add to the property? I assume it won't add the same amount it costs?, so maybe half of that? (30K?)
Thanks for any comments!

hazyjo

It quite often will add value, more than it cost usually, but it depends on the ceiling price in the road, and how balanced the house is on each floor.

Have a look at sold prices on rightmove to see how those with loft conversions compare to those without.

eidand

if you like the area, want to stay put but add more living space I'd think it makes sense to do it regardless of what might happen in 5-10 years from now.
I had the same dilemma where I live now, but decided against it, mainly because of the area.

GDB2222

I like Ealing, and a quick look on RM seems to show that houses are a bit more expensive than you think. The cheapest 3 bed homes are around £600k, and those are terraced. The cheapest 4 bed is £650k.  

Without seeing your house, it’s hard to say, but I expect that you will easily get your money back on the loft conversion. It depends whether you can get the stairs up without losing too much space on the first floor and how much space you get on the top floor. 

House prices seem to be about £600 a sq ft, so you don’t need To add a lot of extra Floor area to justify a cost of £60k .

dimbo61

Have you got high ceilings in the current bedrooms ?
How much room do you have in the loft ?  With good standing height ?
Some lofts are easy to convert and some a complete No No 

BlueLeaf

Thanks for the replies!

Our neighbor did a loft extension a long time ago (their house is the semi-detached house joined to ours), and their conversion looks huge inside, so potential space in our loft will not be an issue if we did one of similar shape.

My wife is just worried that if we did one, and then moved in the near future (because for example we have more income), then we would not get back a good return on the investment.

I just saw an article online about some research Nationwide BS did, saying that a loft extension can add 20% to the value of a home, is this too optimistic?

eddddy

Ask some local EAs what the property will be worth with or without a loft conversion. Maybe give the impression that you might be selling fairly soon, and you want to compare options.

In my experience, many EAs are happy to give their opinion (and take the opportunity to 'introduce themselves'), in the hope that you'll think of them when you eventually decide to sell. ,

dimbo61

If you go to a 4 bed 3 bathroom property with 2 ensuite bedrooms it should add value and you can always rent out the top floor  once you don't need all the bedrooms 🤔
Room for family and friends to stay over.
Long term lodger !
Teenager space away from family.
How much garden have you got ?
Parking and garage ?
Ground floor living space !
Does your neighbour pay a higher rate of council tax ?
If the property is top heavy with small living rooms and kitchen but huge bedrooms and 3 bathrooms it can effect the value.

lincroft1710

dimbo61 said:

Does your neighbour pay a higher rate of council tax ?

In England, the CT band will not increase if improvements are carried out by the current owner after 1 April 1993

princeofpounds

BlueLeaf said:

I just saw an article online about some research Nationwide BS did, saying that a loft extension can add 20% to the value of a home, is this too optimistic?

If it adds about 20% extra floor area, it can add about 20% to the value of a home, sure. It can also cost about 20% of the value of a home!

Joking aside - many home improvements don't add as much value as they cost. Those that do add value either tend to solve real problems (like moving bathrooms upstairs) or add real capacity to the home. 

A loft extension can do that. It's more likely to do that in expensive areas, as the value of the floorspace rises but the cost of building less so (materials very similar price to anywhere, but labour will be more expensive). So yes, in your area it may well have a chance to do so. This is why in central London it can even make sense to dig out those ridiculous multi-storey basements to add value. 

Local EAs can probably help as already suggested. Try to get them to discuss £/sqm rates for your kind of house (good agents will track this kind of thing), so you can check the maths vs. the prices you are quoted to do the work. And/or you can just compare to similar houses in your close area that are larger.

Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but a bit of due diligence like this can strongly tilt the odds in your favour. Because you're talking about a 5-10 year timescale, you'll get good use out of it too in the meantime, so it doesn't just have to be about making a big investment return.

GDB2222

The cost of doing the work is much the same whether the house is in Ealing or somewhere where properties are a third of the price. So, a loft conversion in Ealing can add value over and above the conversion cost, whilst it might be the other way round where property values are much lower.

In general, with the eaves and the staircase access, the usable space you get from a loft conversion is likely to be around half of the space on the ground or first floors, which does indeed work out at an extra 25% for the floor area. The amount of usable space depends on how high the roof is and what dormers you're allowed to install. So, a value increase of 20% is plausible.