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The Costs and Benefits of Extending Your Home

Are you lacking living space? Maybe your kitchen is simply too small? Or you’re fed up with toys everywhere and want a play area downstairs for the children?

Well an extension could be the solution for you!

Whether you decide to just add a little extension on or decide to go full on with a large extension, extending your home can bring plenty of benefits. It can make such a difference to your living space but you need to bear in mind what value the extension will bring. Is it worth the cost? Is it going to bring value to your home but also value to your life too?

Start off by getting an experienced local estate agent to come and value your home, they can assess what extending the property could add to the selling price. This way you know what roughly to keep your budget at so you don’t overspend. Although it may be that the value it will add to your life outweighs what value it adds to your home! It is worth keeping the house value in mind for the future though.

Before you start, keep in mind it’s going to cause disruption to your life. There will be upheaval and lots of mess, dust and noise! But it is only temporary and generally extensions are done relatively quickly (around 2-3 months is the norm but this obviously depends on the size and work being carried out).

As well as making sure you have the knowledge or someone knowledgeable involved, arm yourself with magazines, pictures, and other inspirational products, so you have an idea of exactly how you want it to turn out.

Aside from that, here are a few more tips to help make sure that your extension goes smoothly.

1. Budget Planning

Generally you’re looking at a starting price of around £35,000 for a 4x5m extension, this is without the professional fees added. If you go for a top spec extension it could be around £60,000 if not more. Of course where you live will influence what you pay and what you will need. Make sure you add an extra 10-15% on for professional fees and potentially VAT on top. What the room is going to be used for will also affect costs, a kitchen extension is generally more costly than just a simple living space.

2. Design Input

It’s possible to work with just one company when building an extension. You could bring in a design and build specialist such as ourselves, that can sort planning and construction drawings as well manage the entire project too. This means you will only have to deal with one firm which is less stressful and reduces the risk of mistakes happening. Alternatively, you could take on an architect and then hire building contractors. Look at the costs and pros/cons of each before making a final decision.

3. Which Extension?

You don’t necessarily have to go to the back of the property, you could opt for a side-return extension using the passageway at the back (if you have one), or you could do a wrap-around extension, extending to the side and back which will increase width and depth. It really is dependent on the space you have and what planning allows for.

4. Room Use

Generally extensions are used to create a better, more open layout in the downstairs of a house house and maybe to improve the connection to the outside space. It could also be used to make a lovely open plan kitchen/diner or kitchen/living where there was only a pokey kitchen before. It may be you do an extension large enough to be all three and you could do it so it has great views of the garden. Add in sliding window doors to open it all up in the summer months, creating the feel of an even larger space.

5. Future Proof

You may initially start with a single-storey extension, but what about a two-storey extension in the future? Make sure you mention to the designer this as a potential idea. This can then be built into the plans to ensure it is feasible at a later date.

6. Need more light

Consider having a full window roof, or a number of windows installed into the top of the extension. This will allow plenty of light in adding to that spacious feel.

Do you need advice on a potential extension? Why not get in touch and see if we can help:

www.greenstone-design.co.uk

[email protected]

01430 860 867

07845 175 262

The Costs and Benefits of Extending Your Home