House extensions
Where to start with a House Extension:
Is moving worth it when you can simply improve? Home extension is a great way to maximize your property’s space while also adding immense value to it. If you consider the hassles as well as costs like stamp duty and legal fees, you’ll discover more reasons why improving your existing property can be an incredible idea. However, the question is, where do you start? If you’re also having the same concerns, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post, we aim to help guide your through the commencement of your home extension project to ensure all the necessary aspects are covered. Let’s take a look!
- Is it worth it? Before making any financial commitment, it’s important to consider just how much value the extension will add to your property. To do this, simply hire a local estate agent who should be able to advice on whether you’ll get a nice return on your investment.
- Planning permission. Before splashing your cash, it’s crucial to determine whether or not a planning permission would be needed to start building your extension. You can start by going through your local council website and consult a professional like an Architect for advice. Failure to do so can bring about grave consequences such as fines and penalties.
- Building regulations. You may not need planning permission, but your home extension project must adhere to the relevant building regulations. These regulations are put in place so as to ensure the safety of the individuals in and around the structure and also for energy efficiency.
- Extension design. Although, there’s no law that requires you to hire an architect, however, you might want to recruit one just to ensure that a perfect work is done.
- Set a budget. You have to set a realistic budget for your project and also leave an allowance for possible contingencies.
What to consider before you start:
Do you need more space in your home? There is a plethora of reasons for considering a home extension. Apart from requiring larger spaces, you may want to add a playroom for the kids or possibly add a study room, office, gym or bedroom to your house. Whatever your reason, it’s always good to consider getting a home extension rather than moving. And when built properly, extensions can add an immense value to your property when you want to sell. However, before you commence your house extension project, there’s the need to put some things into consideration in order to ensure a smooth and successful project. Let’s take a look!
- Identify your needs. Although this may seem obvious but you need to have a clear idea of what you want from the extension. If you simply want to add a great value to your property, there are some extensions that’ll create more value that the others. Simply make your research to enable you pin-point what you want.
- Planning permission. Before you splash any cash on your home extension project, it’s crucial to determine whether or not a planning permission is required. Once you start planning the extension, you should talk to your local council. This will put you on the good side of the law.
- Hire an architect. The bigger the project, the more you’d require the expertise of an architect. Although there’s no law that requires you to hire one, but you might want to consider recruiting the services of an architect to get maximum value from your project.
- Talk to your neighbours. Since the people around you will definitely be affected by your major home extension, you might want to give them a heads up early on so you can put their objections (if any) into consideration before you proceed.
Should you hire an architect?
When it comes to house extension projects, one of the first decisions you’ll have to make is whether or not you’ll need to hire the services of an architect. As this is not required by law, several homeowners may decide to overlook an architect’s services. However, one thing you should know is recruiting one can have an immense impact on both the cost as well as quality of your building works. So how do you know if you need an architect? Let’s take a look!
First and foremost, being fully aware it’s up to you to decide whether or not to hire an architect, you may want to know why they might be necessary. Most home and property owners will hire an architect when undertaking major building works such as extensions and entire house refurbishments, while others hire architects for relatively minor projects like remodeling a bathroom. However, in general, employing the services of an architect for major projects that’ll affect your home’s exterior like an extension, loft conversion and basement conversion will give you a peace of mind knowing the addition to your home is safe and legal. Although, this will become less necessary if you have a clear idea of what you want and you also trust your builder’s vision and judgement.
If you’re not sure of what you want or lack ideas, an architect will be of huge benefit to help you get the best out of your project. Also, if you don’t trust your builders or you’re almost always busy or inexperienced, an architect can help supervise the builders to make sure they don’t deviate from the plan. In short, an architect can help you manage the whole process to ensure the quality as well as safety of your home extension.
How big can I make the extension?
If you’ve decided building a home extension is the way to go, you’d probably want to know possible ways to avoid the need to apply for a planning permission especially considering the hassles and costs involved in the process. One of the best ways to achieve this is to stay within the size requirements. Since the relaxation of the permitted development rules, you’re now allowed to build an extension without planning permission within a size of six metres (or 8 metres for detached houses). However, it must be stated that there are some limitations or conditions to building a home extension without planning permission. These restrictions are, however, quite reasonable and shouldn’t have a grave impact on your project. Let’s take a look!
- The home extension you wish to build must be a single storey and must not exceed 4 metres.
- If your wall is facing a road and forms the side or front of the existing property, no part of the extension must extend beyond it. Extensions located at the home’s rear are usually the most popular.
- The exterior materials to be incorporated must possess a similar appearance or look to the original property. This is to make sure that the extension goes seamlessly with the existing property.
- If you’re looking to build a side extension, you must make sure that the structure is not larger than half the width of the existing property.
However, it must be noted that if you happen to reside in a listed building or designated land (or other protected areas like conservation areas, national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty), you may have your permitted development rights (which allows you to build an extension without planning permission under certain conditions as discussed above) removed.
What factors affect house extension costs?
As you would have expected, just like every other home improvement project, home extension final cost is determined by a wide range of factors. Therefore, if you’re looking to calculate the final cost you’re going to incur to get your upcoming home extension project over the line, the answer you’ll arrive at will come down to a bunch of variables and factors. A lot will be based on the extension type you’re aiming to build (for instance, single storey or two storey extension), the size, materials, the amount of glazing to be incorporated and lots more. In other words, when it comes to building a home extension, there’s no one size fits all approach.
Anything you arrive at from the above should be added to the extra costs you’ll also incur like architect’s fees, survey, planning permission, structural engineer fees, décor as well as furnishings.
In general, the cost of your home extension can be affected by multiple factors including the following:
- The number of storeys you wish to build or the type of your extension.
- The build’s quality – can be standard, good or excellent.
- The build route you’re going to take, whether you’ll be really involved in the project or not.
- The amount of glazing that’s going to be featured
- Whether the home extension will include a kitchen or a bathroom.
In short, if you’ve decided that building an extension is the way to go, you can expect to incur about £1,3500 to £2,250 per square metre of new internal space. Therefore, if you’re going for kitchen extension of about 30 square metre that’ll be estimated at around £40,500 to £67,500 which includes VAT at 20 percent.
What are the stages of doing a house extension:
House extension is a great way to solve your home’s lack of sufficient space. However, it’s definitely not a project you’d want to rush into without arming yourself with the necessary information in order to maximize your available space and get the most out of the project. House extension is an expensive project which makes it even more important to ensure you get it right the first time. Whether you’re looking to give yourself a larger kitchen space with a single storey extension or a two storey extension for a much-needed office space, there are some key things you have to know to make sure you get the most from both the design and build stages. Here are some of the things you need to know:
- House extension and building regs. Even if you don’t require planning permission to build your extension, the work must get building regulation approval. The building regulations set out minimum requirements for the structural integrity, energy efficiency, fire safety, damp proofing, ventilation as well as other important aspect to ensure that the building is safe.
- Choosing the right designer. There are multiple options you can choose from when it comes to designing your extensions. These options include architects, architectural technicians, specialist designers as well as package build companies’ in-house design teams. You can ask friends and family for recommendations or search online for practices that have designed projects similar to what you have in mind.
- Understand the Party Wall Act. This Act enables you to undertake work on, or up to, your neighbours’ land and buildings, making the arrangements formal and also protecting all parties’ interest. This is not covered under planning or building control.
How much does a house extension cost?
There are a bunch of ways to improve your home, however none of these options are as popular as extending. With an increased need for spacious, adaptable and functional homes, more and more home owners are turning to home extensions to deliver the home they so much crave. If you’re planning to build an extension in your home, then you’d probably want to know just how much it’ll cost to get the project over the line. In this post, we’re going to give you an insight into the cost of building a home extension. Let’s take a look!
First and foremost, like every other home improvement project, the total cost of a home extension depends on a wide range of factors. These factors include the size, location as well as type of extension you desire just to mention a few. For instance, you’d expect the cost of a two-storey extension in London to be a lot more expensive than the price of a one-story extension in Southampton. However, we’ll try our best to give you an idea of the price range you can expect to incur to complete your project.
- For a ground floor rear extension of about 30 square metres, you can expect to incur within the range of £45000 to £98000 inside of London and £37000 to £80,000 outside of London.
- For a ground floor side return extension of about 30 square metres, you can expect to incur within the range of £52000 to £98000 inside of London and £43000 to £80,000 outside of London.
- For a ground floor wraparound extension of about 45 square metres, you can expect to incur within the range of £78000 to £146000 inside of London and £65000 to £120,000 outside of London.
