Will a house extension add any value?

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BobbyFowler

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I'm living in a 4 Bed Terraced House in Clondalkin. The House is Valued at around 490K. I'm looking at extending out the back of the house, knocking out the back of the Kitchen & Dining Room, extending out a few feet & in turn joining up the two rooms. I'm looking to spend between 30 & 40K. Is there a "rule of thumb" how this affects the value of the house? I thought that I heard it takes 5 years before any add on in value takes place. My first thought is that because it's a terraced house, it may not be as attractive to buyers as the price rises.
 
Hi BF,
When we were looking to upgrade 2 years ago 3 of the houses had extensions, one of them was huge - but very badly laid out. The secord one was ok, but the last one was amazing it was so well laid out and even though the house was a terrace we were very close to putting in an offer.

My advise is to get a good architect, a poor extension won't add much value on to the house, however a well planned and laid out extension can add anything up to €50K - now that is an estimate.
 
I would agree partly with the above.

Having an extension will attract other potential buyers and will obviously give you an increase in value but I think it will be several years before you would see the value increase by the amount that the works cost
 
In my opinion any significant renovations should be done mainly to satisfy your own needs rather than mainly or solely in an attempt to enhance the resale value. In many cases such renovations will cost more than they will add in resale value and prospective buyers vary so much in terms of preferences that it's impossible to satisfy them all. If you are planning to move in the short/medium term then you might be better off saving your money and keeping it for significant renovations/extensions of your eventual dream home that you will live in more permanently.
 
When you are thinking about an extension - you should remember that there is generally a guide price for houses in your area. There will be a lower price, reflecting houses that need a lot of work to be done in. There will also be a higher level at which houses with a lot of work already done will sell at.

Before building on, consider where your house would fit in the price range. Get an estate agent in to give you a estimate of value. When you do this, you may realise that even with the extension - you won't make that money back. So you are more likely to sell without doing the extension and use the money in your next place.
 
Thanks for the info. In the short to medium term, the idea we have does satisfy our needs. I've no plans to sell up for a few years (although we may move abroad towards the end of 2008, afer which we'd probably rent it out) I can see how putting the money aside for a future purchase makes some sense..
 
BobbyFowler said:
Thanks for the info. In the short to medium term, the idea we have does satisfy our needs. I've no plans to sell up for a few years (although we may move abroad towards the end of 2008, afer which we'd probably rent it out) I can see how putting the money aside for a future purchase makes some sense..
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If you plan to rent it out then remember that this will most likely mean that some portion of any gain (including enhanced gains attributable to the extension etc.) will be assessable for CGT on resale.
 
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