Extend or Move?

taylor86

Hope this is ok to post here....
I’m looking for an outsiders perspective on my situation. I currently live with my family in a 1960s 3 bedroom semi detached, lived here 5 years and have renovated it fully in that time. The house is leasehold and would cost approx 3k to purchase the freehold inc legal fees. We live in a lovely, convenient area for schools etc. We have paper thin walls and have had problems with neighbour noise since moving in, we have sound proofed however lots of noise still comes through which makes us very conscious about our kids noise and playing music etc although we get on well with neighbours.

Husband runs a business from home and we desperately now need an office. We are in two minds what to do. Convert the back of the garage (there is no access to the garden except through garage so bins/lawnmower etc will always need to be brought through, add a single story rear extension or move house. We have approx 30k and have built up a reasonable amount of equity. The loft is too low to convert.

Any perspective or advice welcome. The market is hot in our area at the moment and properties are selling before they hit the market. Great for selling but difficult to buy. 

Salemicus

Have you considered writing to Channel 4? You could get Phil & Kirsty round to pit you and your husband against each other. 

taylor86

Ironically this is the situation, one of us would prefer to sell up and move and one of us would prefer to stay and make this house work! This is why we’re looking for an outside perspective.

edgex

So this is a 'link detached' house, or the garage is built over by the upstairs?

How wide is the garage?

SpiderLegs

Personally I would lean towards moving. If there are fundamentals wrong then you’re stuck with them. 

It may take longer to move but if you have the scope you can look at larger properties and put your extra 30k in, or smaller ones that you also have the money spare to extend.
guess it all depends on what your local market looks like.

taylor86

edgex said:

So this is a 'link detached' house, or the garage is built over by the upstairs?

How wide is the garage?

It’s a semi detached and the garage is also attached to next doors garage. The garage is 2.4m wide.

FreeBear

A third option - If the garden is big enough, what about an office at the end of the garden ?

£30K would get you a very well designed/built space. Insulated, with power, it would be usable all year round. Also separates hubby's work from the main house, so gives him opportunity to "switch off" in that short walk down the garden.

Natrc

taylor86 said:

Hope this is ok to post here....
I’m looking for an outsiders perspective on my situation. I currently live with my family in a 1960s 3 bedroom semi detached, lived here 5 years and have renovated it fully in that time. The house is leasehold and would cost approx 3k to purchase the freehold inc legal fees. We live in a lovely, convenient area for schools etc. We have paper thin walls and have had problems with neighbour noise since moving in, we have sound proofed however lots of noise still comes through which makes us very conscious about our kids noise and playing music etc although we get on well with neighbours.

Husband runs a business from home and we desperately now need an office. We are in two minds what to do. Convert the back of the garage (there is no access to the garden except through garage so bins/lawnmower etc will always need to be brought through, add a single story rear extension or move house. We have approx 30k and have built up a reasonable amount of equity. The loft is too low to convert.

Any perspective or advice welcome. The market is hot in our area at the moment and properties are selling before they hit the market. Great for selling but difficult to buy. 

Have you had a look at the properties in the area you could buy? Do any tick all the boxes? if you have a look around and cannot find anything, then maybe you have answered your own question and it would be better to extend. If you have a look and think you can find exactly what you are looking for in a property, then I would move. 

I understand the stress with the market at the moment (we are just starting to look and its mental), but its always worth a look?

Sistergold

Will the £30k extra enable you to upgrade to a detached house? If not then the noise issue might not be solved by moving. At least where you are now the neighbours are good it’s only that the walls are thin. In your situation I would move if it’s into a detached but if not then I will rather cope with the devil I already know if it’s tolerable. Some neighbours will go out of their way to make noise for you even with decent walls just because they are neighbours from hell. 

pinkteapot

You haven't answered the key question: How big a house could you buy if you move (with the budget you'd have), and how does that compare to the size of the house if you extend?

taylor86

Thanks for all your input, I appreciate it.

With the budget we have it’s likely we could afford a 3 bed with an extension already or potentially 4 bed detached, likely a new build which would be smaller square footage but would tick all the boxes. Or we could move further afield and get something ideal which would be a school move (not ideal).