Will a new downstairs bedroom add value to a 3-bed semi?

play2day

Does the utility area in the corridor to the proposed bedroom make it a room in itself (the utility room that is)? If so I think the bed/play room becomes a room within a room and breaks building regs? Double check this as building regs and planing permission are quite seperate and you need permission from both.....

andrew-b

Is there any rear access to the property as you'll be left with no side access if you were to go ahead. All the new rooms (apart from what was the garage) look small to me - especially that bathroom plus your losing the garage. I think that the extension would actually detract from the value of the house should you come to sell.

If you do genuinely need all those extra rooms i really think you'd be better off moving to a bigger house or one that has better potential to extend.

Andy

warning_uk

play2day wrote: »

Does the utility area in the corridor to the proposed bedroom make it a room in itself (the utility room that is)? If so I think the bed/play room becomes a room within a room and breaks building regs? Double check this as building regs and planing permission are quite seperate and you need permission from both.....

Already got permission from building regs, so I assume this is fine...
d

Spendless

Ok - I don't really see why you need a downstairs bathroom. I can understand a downstairs loo and basin though.

Doozergirl

OK. Looking at your plans the room off the utility really does not work for me. Without a doubt it is going to feel like the old garage. Not sure you've got full value from the architec. Fair enough people generally consider what they want and then plonk it in accordingly, but an architect should be more sensitive to the workings of a modern home!

However! It's gonna cost more, but you could have a fabulous kitchen diner in your garage with doors out onto the garden. The current kitchen becomes the spare bedroom/playroom is then in with the other living room and will feel more cosy. If want a utility room (desirable for buyers), I'd move the kitchen into the current planned utility and open it up. Then make the utility long and thin across the back or even where the bathroom is (i don't think they add value really - loo yes) so that you are not walking through a utility into a habitable room. Buyers simply will not like it.

I'd have a play with those plans. As a property developer I'd really worry about overdeveloping the downstairs but as it's your home and you want extra space, why not. I think you can make that space work better for you though.

warning_uk

Doozergirl wrote: »

OK. Looking at your plans the room off the utility really does not work for me.

I (and my wife) can see this point, and it's something I guess we hadn't fully considered before. We obviously get a lot of space, but have overlooked (more than we should have done) what we will *not get* for the money... I agree that walking past a utility room to get to a living space is not a good thing.

Doozergirl wrote: »

Iou could have a fabulous kitchen diner in your garage with doors out onto the garden. The current kitchen becomes the spare bedroom/playroom is then in with the other living room and will feel more cosy.

Inevitably, you have to start somewhere with home improvements, and we have only recently (2-3 years ago) put in a brand new kitchen, at some expense. So your ideas sound good, but I don't feel this is an option for the investment we've made elsewhere in the house... which leads me to think that we shouldn't do anything as big as we have planned up to now.

Doozergirl wrote: »

As a property developer I'd really worry about overdeveloping the downstairs but as it's your home and you want extra space, why not. I think you can make that space work better for you though.

I guess that, on reflection, we may be trying to get 2 pints into a pint pot, and this may adversely affect the resell. I think we also admit that we have constrained our plans by not wanting to rip down recently-reworked rooms, and I don't think that's a great starting point.

We're definitely reconsidering at the moment, so thank you to people who gave feedback.

Dave

Doozergirl

Keep those plans handy and keep playing with them

olly300

This may seem an odd point but where does the proposed study look out on to?

I work from home using a second bedroom as a study, and I know others who work from home who have build themselves a study. It is actually very nice to have proper natural day light to work in and not look out on to a brick wall if you happen to look out of the window.

flea72

couldnt you just extend out the back, so that it adjoins to the side of the existing garage?

we have done this, and turned our existing front room into the additional bedroom we needed, plus the extension has created a larger living area overlooking the back garden. it makes more sense, as although we use the front room as a bedroom, it can easily be turned back into a living room/play room/study, etc. if we decide to sell. It also cost alot less C£12k for a 22msq extension.

our main reason for extending to create additional living space, rather than bedrooms was, people just wouldnt buy houses in our area with 4+ bedrooms, at a price that covered our expenditure. if we wanted to buy a 4bed in our area, you would expect to pay £30k more than a 3 bed, however the extension would cost about £50k. the £12k we spent on the additional living space, was therefore more cost effective. It gave us the additional space we needed now, but without making our house too different to future potential buyers

Flea

warning_uk

olly300 wrote: »

This may seem an odd point but where does the proposed study look out on to?

A velux window in the roof provides the only light for the study and the bathroom under the current plans... I take all of your points about 'having a view' in the office...

Thanks