Small extension to room

L.S.D.

We have a small bungalow. We want to add a small extension, 3.5 meters x 3 meters to one of the rooms. So three walls, one knocked down plus floor and a flat roof. I have always been told that any extension should add value to the property over and above the price of the extension. We have been quoted way above £20k. One builder came back with £37k. The bungalow will still be two bedroom but one bedroom will be bigger. I don't see the increased value to the property being over £20k, if fact I think it will be much less. 

FreeBear

It used to be a case of extensions costing £1-2K per square metre. But in today's climate, £3K per square metre is more realistic - And that only gets you the finished shell. Decorating & furnishing is extra. To be honest, you are not going to get anything for £20K - £30-35K is more the ballpark you should be looking at, so your £37K quote isn't too far off. If this quote includes architect fees and Building Control charges (plus associated costs), it is starting to look reasonably competitive.

Extending purely to increase value is not a good way to look at things - Consider the impact it will have on "quality of life" and how it will affect your long term use of the property.

ThisIsWeird

May I ask the current value of your bungalow, LimitedSlip? And what will this extension be used for?

twopenny

Why are you doing the extension?
Is it for your use or to improve resale?
Also, the flat roof. Is that only part of the extension or the whole room?
Flat roofs can put off buyers. I've been watching locally a perfectly good bungalow with a flat roofed porch extension not selling. Even with a developer improving it it just looks odd.
So I'd say the whole side roof should be made good to integrate it. 

As for resale, who knows? One across from me sold £ 100,000 over the going rate because right person, right time, right location. We're all stll gobsmacked.
Mine will sell because it has an en suite bathroom in a 2 bed. Ridiculous but that's how it goes.
You need to know your local property market and what people are looking for.

mcc28_x

We have just completed a similar extension which cost c.41k so your quote is not too bad. We extended for the quality of life aspects rather than looking to add that amount to the house's value. We have not had a valuation done but I would very much doubt we will have gained 41k on the value of our home. We did purchase a few years ago though, so overall we have probably gained close to that value.

L.S.D.

Thank you for your replies. Although we are doing it for 'quality of life' there comes a price point when I wonder whose quality of life we are improving, ours or the builder.

GDB2222

L.S.D. said:

Thank you for your replies. Although we are doing it for 'quality of life' there comes a price point when I wonder whose quality of life we are improving, ours or the builder.

I have sympathy with this point of view. You want to improve your life and you don’t mind spending money on your home, but you want to add something like comparable value to the property. Otherwise, you are spending money on a whim, and few of us are wealthy enough to spend tens of thousands on a whim.

It would cost you around £400 per sq foot to get your extension built. One pretty obvious question is what sort of price does property fetch in your area? 

Doozergirl

L.S.D. said:

Thank you for your replies. Although we are doing it for 'quality of life' there comes a price point when I wonder whose quality of life we are improving, ours or the builder.

That's not particularly fair.  If a builder did it for the price you're expecting, they'd be paying to build it.  People have told you that your expectations are too high.  

Everyone deserves to be paid appropriately.  

There are different ways of gaining space in a house and a good designer can often help achieve it without just plonking another room on.  

An extension like that onto an existing room will feel like two rooms - maybe that's what you want? 

TELLIT01

The cost of doing the work, and making a decent profit, are the drivers for the builder.  They aren't interested in whether or not the work adds value to the property.  That is only of concern to the property owner. 

If you get a number of quotes, and one is far cheaper than all the others, or alternatively is far higher than all the others, that is the quote to view with a degree of suspicion.

L.S.D.

Doozergirl said:

L.S.D. said:

Thank you for your replies. Although we are doing it for 'quality of life' there comes a price point when I wonder whose quality of life we are improving, ours or the builder.

That's not particularly fair.  If a builder did it for the price you're expecting, they'd be paying to build it.  People have told you that your expectations are too high.  

Everyone deserves to be paid appropriately.  

There are different ways of gaining space in a house and a good designer can often help achieve it without just plonking another room on.  

An extension like that onto an existing room will feel like two rooms - maybe that's what you want? 

Thanks for your reply, but I think it is very fair. In the past we used to renovate houses, so I'm not completly naive about prices. Had any builder come up with those kind of quotes for this simple job we would not have used them. I'm sure if I cost out the materials, even at todays higher prices, any builder would make a decent profit.

As for size, it's too long a story, but it would make the bungalow comfortable. Other people have have had it done, and it looks good, but their prices were a long time ago, when they were more realistic even with lower wages taken into account.

ashe

L.S.D. said:

Doozergirl said:

L.S.D. said:

Thank you for your replies. Although we are doing it for 'quality of life' there comes a price point when I wonder whose quality of life we are improving, ours or the builder.

That's not particularly fair.  If a builder did it for the price you're expecting, they'd be paying to build it.  People have told you that your expectations are too high.  

Everyone deserves to be paid appropriately.  

There are different ways of gaining space in a house and a good designer can often help achieve it without just plonking another room on.  

An extension like that onto an existing room will feel like two rooms - maybe that's what you want? 

Thanks for your reply, but I think it is very fair. In the past we used to renovate houses, so I'm not completly naive about prices. Had any builder come up with those kind of quotes for this simple job we would not have used them. I'm sure if I cost out the materials, even at todays higher prices, any builder would make a decent profit.

As for size, it's too long a story, but it would make the bungalow comfortable. Other people have have had it done, and it looks good, but their prices were a long time ago, when they were more realistic even with lower wages taken into account.

Aren't builders meant to make a decent profit? They're not charities or doing it as a favour. I think, despite your comments, you would be surprised at material costs now and everyone's costs and salaries have gone up meaning any other trades they get in also have to be paid appropriately.

otherwise, with the amount of demand there is, someone would just undercut everyone and hoover up all the trade, which is in fact what often happens but then you see these people getting taken to court for not completing jobs or they can't be found as they've moved their horses to the next pitch. 

Of you used to renovate houses you should have some contacts in that industry, run it by them but what you're being told above is, unfortunately, correct