Building bungalow on parents land

JessWebster78

ManuelG said:

Have to say, if she's stressed about selling the house, is putting her in a caravan, pre-fab, or rented before moving her again going to be particularly stress free for her?

I agree - we were hoping to be able to build the bungalow whilst she stayed in the house and then just basically move her next door and sell the house. I think it will be easier to sell when it’s empty. But nothings ever as simple as that 🤣

We thought this would alleviate the stress of the selling process - she’s had 1 sale fall through recently and I honestly thought she would end up in hospital that evening. Her illness is very debilitating and causes her breathing issues which get worse when triggered by stress so not ideal. 

aliby21

Would your mum be better looking at a retirement property or sheltered housing?  Some of them do a part exchange option for your current property I believe.  I can't see that living next to a building site is going to be stress free either TBH, plus it is not a quick process and you say her health is deteriorating.  

Albermarle

aliby21 said:

Would your mum be better looking at a retirement property or sheltered housing?  Some of them do a part exchange option for your current property I believe.  I can't see that living next to a building site is going to be stress free either TBH, plus it is not a quick process and you say her health is deteriorating.  

This seems a sensible suggestion. Retirement properties are often not great investments, but probably the transition will be a lot less stressful than some of the other options discussed. Plus no complications about who owns what, and who paid for what etc.

hazyjo

Empty houses don't usually sell easier/quicker than occupied houses - from my experience. Quite the opposite. People have trouble visualising furniture/beds/sizes, and you tend to have patches, colour-mismatches, and dents where furniture/beds have been. And they often just feel very unloved.

MobileSaver

JessWebster78 said:

lincroft1710 said:

Have you had an estimate for building the bungalow and associated works?

Builder is due to go round over the next few days. We’ve done an online calculation which comes in at around £100k.

That sounds far too low to me, building materials and labour costs have shot up since Covid.

For the benefit of others in the future, it would be great if you could update this thread once you have your builder's estimate; I wouldn't be surprised if it was nearer £200k than £100k...

JessWebster78

thanks everyone for your advice - mums house has sold and she is currently buying a bungalow so my sanity and finances are saved!