House extension/move decision

bargainhunter121

We're in the final stages of planning our house extension, plans passed, surveys done, building control app ongoing and remortgage approved. We're just awaiting the transfer of deeds from the previous lender. We've been told the work will take between 16-20 weeks which is probably optimistic.  It's debatable if we would've taken the process this far, to be honest only we were promised back in July by my husbands cousins who are building contractors that they would be happy to do the work as we were family. They gave us a keen quote so we proceeded with the plans etc.  When it came to november however and we needed them they completely backed out on us and now our quote is double what they were stating, hence our need to remortgage. On top of that they have told all family members our plans/costs and that they aren't doing the work for us, my in laws are thrilled with this as they enjoy us struggling and having a difficult time so have been putting pressure on us and trying to make us even more discontent with our home. 

At the moment our house has a small kitchen, shower room with no room for a bath and a small third bedroom. Also the garden is on a steep hill with steps to access it.  I am currently 4 months pregnant with our second baby and have a 1 year old. The planning process/remortgaging/solicitors and all other queries have been time consuming and we just feel like it's one hurdle/bill after another with nothing to show for it. 
We would sell but during the summer our neighbour cut the tops of our trees without our permission and therefore created a dispute Which we would now have to declare. One neighbour beside us constantly watches every van/person that comes into our house as he's afraid in case we get any work done to improve our home. He's quite intimidating. Starting the buying/ selling process now would no doubt stress me out too. We would probably incur costs also from the solicitor for the ongoing remortgage. We honestly don't know what to do at this point. Also our other neighbour was getting work done this morning and their contractor cut our phone lines so neither of us can now work from home and we'll probably have to pay for that to be fixed too.
What's our best option? I'm just getting depressed over everything going wrong. 

seradane

You know roughly what your renovation will achieve in terms of extra space and it's cost. If you add 20% on for contingency, and then add that to the cost of your house, you will then have a number you can use to compare with the market. Could you buy the equivalent within that budget?

Of course, when you're building there's hassle and stress, and living in a building site isn't fun. So there's a bit of taking that into consideration. So if those numbers are coming out similar, it may be worth moving instead.

However if there isn't anything remotely comparable in budget, then the extra hassle of the project is likely to be more worthwhile. Or if you're still not feeling up to it, just cancel the project altogether and deal with your house as it is.

moneysavinghero

Sounds like its not a great place to live. So move. If it was your dream house then maybe the advise would be different, but it does not seem to be.

You can use a mobile to make calls / create a wi-fi hotspot, so no reason you cant still work from home while you wait for the phone line to be repaired.

frogglet

I would move. We had a large extension done , although it was cheaper than moving, the disruption was awful, no cooking facilities for weeks, the dirt, the building work dragged on and on and on  it was freezing. I'll never have massive building work done again.

bargainhunter121

I think what's putting me off moving (although it may be stupid) is;
*Prior to our neighbour cutting our trees we were fairly happy here. He did it one month after the planning application went it and they were notified. 

*our nosy/intimidating neighbour is annoying but just about copable

* the location is great for work and schools
*I'm worried about the stress of selling with a dispute and a buyer(s) potentially pulling out.

*we've had a lot of aggro from family and myself, colleagues because of where we live due to jealousy and it being a 'desired' house. I dont want to give them what they want by.moving. I'm not sure though how much I should be letting this be a factor but they thrive on our demise for some reason. 

The decision is stressing me out for sure and its crunch time now.

moneysavinghero

If it's a desirable house in a desirable area then a little dispute over cutting a bit off the top of your hedges might not put off potential buyers that much. How far did the dispute go?

bargainhunter121

Also cost wise...we have been given a fixed quote but due to unforeseen costs, who knows what it might end up being. It would take a while for us to recoup the cost I reckon if we were to do the work and sell. Although at the moment there is little choice for housing in the area and most prices really are extortionate at the moment.  In that regard, we *may* break even. 

bargainhunter121

We had phoned him after he had left a note in our door and we explained we got them pruned regularly ourselves and that we did not give him permission to do.
6 months later he approached us again and asked us again, he asked my husband to go into his garden so he could show us how awful our trees were (when he bought the house there was a lot of work required and his garden was a mess). We then 
sent him a letter asking him not to cut our trees again. He then cut the back of our trees and left alot of debris and rubbish is our garden. We didnt say anything at that point as we weren't sure if any of them had been overhanging branches, but then this year he started topping the trees too, so we felt we had no choice but to get the police involved. They asked us if we wanted to prosecute for criminal damage but we didnt want the stress of court so they just went and spoke to him, to which he blamed his gardener. It took us several months and cost us to dispose of the debris he left in our garden. Our trees were lovely when we purchased the house and now they look awful.