Loft conversions - tips and advice
Filed under: Property
If you need some extra space in your home but can't or don't want to move, you might consider extending upwards into your loft space. If your lucky enough to have a large space in your roof, a loft conversion could add an extra room to your house and potentially a few zeros to your house's value.
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Another step to take before you start spending money on your conversion is to contact local estate agents to find out if other houses in the area have benefited from loft conversions. If the extension does not add value to your property, you might want to think twice about going through with it.
Some more questions to ask before you go ahead with your conversion are: have you got a party wall agreement with your neighbours? Have you got space for built-in storage in the new room? Will you soundproof the new room? Is there enough light? Will your current boiler be big enough to cope with extra radiators? Will the new room be well insulated and ventilated?
A basic loft conversion can cost around £10,000. If you want to have extras such as an en suite bathroom or a dormer window, the cost can rise to between £25,000 - £40,000. Dormer windows are a good investment since they create extra space by extending out of the roof.
Before you start any building work, make sure you have planning permission or a permit from the local planning authorities. If you don't do this and the local authorities decide they don't want loft conversions in your neighbourhood, they can force you to restore your loft to its original condition.
Don't try cutting corners or skimping on costs as cheap conversions are easy to spot and you won't be doing yourself any favours house-price wise. But do shop around builders for the best quote.
If you want your conversion to be an extra bedroom, you will have to comply with stringent building regulations. A proper staircase and windows are necessary, as are fire safety standards such as fire doors that swing shut and a fire escape.
Finally, you might want to think about protecting your investment through a warranty. For example, MasterBond is an insurance-backed warranty that costs around £150 per £10,000 or work. This will provide you reassurance in case something goes wrong during the work and for 10 years afterwards.
Are you planning to build a loft conversion or have you already built one? If so, then leave a comment below and tell us about your experiences.
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Another step to take before you start spending money on your conversion is to contact local estate agents to find out if other houses in the area have benefited from loft conversions. If the extension does not add value to your property, you might want to think twice about going through with it.
Some more questions to ask before you go ahead with your conversion are: have you got a party wall agreement with your neighbours? Have you got space for built-in storage in the new room? Will you soundproof the new room? Is there enough light? Will your current boiler be big enough to cope with extra radiators? Will the new room be well insulated and ventilated?
A basic loft conversion can cost around £10,000. If you want to have extras such as an en suite bathroom or a dormer window, the cost can rise to between £25,000 - £40,000. Dormer windows are a good investment since they create extra space by extending out of the roof.
Before you start any building work, make sure you have planning permission or a permit from the local planning authorities. If you don't do this and the local authorities decide they don't want loft conversions in your neighbourhood, they can force you to restore your loft to its original condition.
Don't try cutting corners or skimping on costs as cheap conversions are easy to spot and you won't be doing yourself any favours house-price wise. But do shop around builders for the best quote.
If you want your conversion to be an extra bedroom, you will have to comply with stringent building regulations. A proper staircase and windows are necessary, as are fire safety standards such as fire doors that swing shut and a fire escape.
Finally, you might want to think about protecting your investment through a warranty. For example, MasterBond is an insurance-backed warranty that costs around £150 per £10,000 or work. This will provide you reassurance in case something goes wrong during the work and for 10 years afterwards.
Are you planning to build a loft conversion or have you already built one? If so, then leave a comment below and tell us about your experiences.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
David said 5:04AM on 8-18-2010
Not a very good article and full of flaws.
Any use of a loft (in a 2 story house), except storage will require building regulations approval, not just a bedroom as stated.
Means of escape regulations are difficult to comply with and may well mean replacing all the doors on the lower floors and creating an escape corridor leading to the outside.
Joists usually need replacing, heavy insulation is a must, the staircase must also comply.
I surveyed a house last month where the guy tried to sell his place, the buyers solicitor had asked for a copy of the building regulations approval on the loft conversion, there wasn't one and the sale fell through.
It just isn't as easy as this article implies.
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John said 5:13AM on 8-18-2010
Don't know where thy get the idea that prices start at £10,000. Taking into consideration extra joists, insulation in floors,and walls and ceiling, flooring for fire check, windows, plasterboard, fire doors, smoke alarms and staircase. Then you have the roofing work where you will need new tiles, lead work around new windows etc, new rainwater pipes. You would not get much change out of £10,000 for just materials. Add onto that the cost of labour and the price is much dearer. You should give realistic prices, a basic loft conversion will probaby start at around £16,000.
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stephen said 7:20AM on 8-21-2010
i totaly agree , i am getting my loft turned into a bedroom ensuit and the bear cost it up to around nine thousand pounds with all the fees and materials thats no labour ,, thats including staircase and steels and architects fees .
I live in a midterrace 2 bedroom and need more room and so calling in a lot of favours from mates in the trade but still paying them for there time and rightly so.
The total cost for me will be around £ 16000 but to remember there s no profit on the labour and im in the building game ,, my job is a heating engineer/plumber and so you could easily alow £2500 on the job if someone else did the plumbing ( baring in mind the water tanks need taking out and a new system put in (mega flow) , so to any one else i could say it would easily be the £20000 mark plus The average for a loft conversion would be around the £25000 depending on speck
Lew said 8:49AM on 8-18-2010
I have recently had a large loft conversion completed, comprising 2 x bedrooms and a bathroom... gross internal area around 400 sq ft. and incorporating 3 x dormers.
Do not underestimate this project. Architect and Structural Engineer drawings must be submitted to the Council for approval. Building regs take care of steelwork design, timber, insulation, window and dormer specifications. It is essential that you have the required stage inspections carried out by the Council Inspector, and that you speak to them personally to ensure that your builder is compying with all requirements.
A loft conversion without a Completion Certificate (issued by the Council's Building Control) is worthless. Electrical work must be covered by an NICEIC certificate.
The cost for just the steelwork was in excess of £5,000. I obtained several quotes, and all were much the same. Total cost: £50,000 + specialist bathroom flooring, bathroom fixtures, light fittings.
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Peter said 12:38PM on 8-18-2010
Having been involved with design of Loft Conversion for the past 10 years I was appauled at the lack of knowledge the writer of this article has on the subject. All this article would do would be to encourage more cowboy builders into thinking they can hoodwink the innocent public into having something completely worthless and that could in the end devalve their property. As David pointed out the sale of the property he surveyed fell through. I have know people who had to reinstate their lofts and even to have the whole thing redone to achieve a sale. If you are considering a conversion talk to specialist Loft Conversion companies and get quotations from three or four of them. Get referals from them and go and check these out and talk to their customers. It's a big investment and one you don't want to get wrong. Perhaps AOL will ask someone in future who knows the ins and outs of a subject like this before putting it to print.
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stephen said 7:45AM on 8-21-2010
I agree im a plumber /heating engineer and i see this crap every day its the same kind of comment when peolple say how easy it is to do plumbing, well have them kind of people got on there ass year in year out and done ( NO) would be the answer ,, so where did they get there crap for this loft conversion ,?
ste said 2:23AM on 8-21-2010
i got my loft done the builder came on a horse, he quoted me 5 men 3 weeks £50 per day what a bargin work was fine and gave him a bevy on top mind you they were all forigen
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steve said 8:24PM on 8-22-2010
Hope you also paid the local council their fees for Building Control and that it has been signed off by them. Also you obtained planing permission if the conversion was in a conservation area or had a dormer. These fees normally work out to be around £800, and ofcourse you will need some structural calculations. A structural engineer will charge a few hundred, Will need a few drawings for planing and Building Control...So overal you'll have to lay out over a thousamd before the first builder starts work. Remember the Local authority have the right to demand you pull down anything that hasn't had permission amd ofcourse if you go to sell your property then a good surveyor/solicitor will point this out to the buyer and they will be asking for you to reduce the asking price as that room doesn't exist on paper.
jason said 3:49AM on 8-21-2010
like your comment ste
you have just summed up the country full of forigen labour work for less than the minimum wage i bet he did not have any insurace real builders who do a decent job are going under because of peaple like you.
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ch said 4:25AM on 8-21-2010
but im sure you`ll go for an indian, or a chinese or maybe an italian meal soon??? foreign workers actually WORK! and dont whinge and moan about it either
Bernie said 4:39AM on 8-21-2010
At least foreign workers can spell english words correctly, and they do work hard not like the english whingers who would rather live off hand outs rather than go to work.
jason said 4:44AM on 8-21-2010
most of my work is putting right crap work done by peaple that dont now wot they are doing in the building trade clients are no better they get 4 quotes then go for the cheapeast by a long shot wast my time asking for break downs on prices then ring me up in 12-18 mounths time when its al gone tits up and the cowboys have long gone into the sunset with there money give me the sob story about got no money to put it right well CH YOU MISSED THE POINT THAT I WAS MAKING I DONT HAVE ANY PROBLEM ABOUT HOW HARD THEY WORK JUST THE SHIT JOBS THAT GET DONE .
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Top-Storey said 4:47AM on 8-21-2010
I manage a national loft company based in Stockton on Tees.
Therefore, I am qualified to comment on your article.
Your content is misleading in all areas. First and foremost it should be stressed that 2.2 metres headroom is required in the existing roof space as the public usually have no knowledge of the minimum height regulations. This saves both the professional and clients time.
Party wall agreements are really only required if the adjoining neighbours are hostile to the development. 99% of lofts are carried out without expensive party wall agreements.
A basic conversion will cost 15K. Dormers start at a lower figure than 25K.
Any skilled loft company will deal with all approvals on the clients behalf. Most clients wouldn't know where to start.
Very important fact. Loft architects design properly maximising potential.
We receive architect plans that require re drawing 100% of the time. Architectural companies have no hands on experience. We have many clients over the years that have had to dispose of expensive impractical architect drawings. Fact. First step, have a loft company draw the plans, this saves a fortune by cutting out the nonsense and the nervous architect.
If a loft conversion is designed correctly it flows off the existing hall or landing, you have no mention of this critical detail. In 22 years of loft conversion i have only come to know 3 architects who can design lofts properly in his specialised field. Just because an expensive architect draws the plan doesn't mean it is designed with full potential or its cost effective to build. A loft company should advice you whether it is a cost effective project prior to spending fortunes on plans. An architect will just charge for the drawings without actually advising the client on the feasibility and overall cost of the project.
Also just because a loft company has a sexy website and advertises 20 years experience doesn't mean its true. These are the facts you should be stressing.
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Dave Clarke said 5:12AM on 8-21-2010
Top Storey, I wish this was posted 3 weeks ago, I could kick myself, paid over £1100.00 for a qualified architect to design and draw my plans for a loft conversion, Had a quote from a local builder who give me a price, I was happy with, to build the conversion, at the last min got a loft company in to give me a quote for the work, who found seven faults with the plan, just one of them was amazingly where the architect had put the stairs it was going to have four foot of head room when landing off the top tread, this was pointed out within seconds of the loft specialist looking at the plans, (god knows how the builder was going to build off this drawing, when I questioned the builder I was told to p..s off, amazing I though) Costly mistake, of course I'm in dispute with the QUILIFIED architect, Lesson learned, Get a loft specialist in before you get plans draw. Would you mind if I give you a ring with a issue I have ? (seen web) Dave
Dave Clarke said 5:28AM on 8-21-2010
Just read article again, I wonder on how many lofts Caroline Cassidy has been involved with or constructed, probably as many as my local builder
Lynne Lowe said 9:24AM on 8-21-2010
Thank you for you most detailed reply to this article. It has been very enlightening
as we are thinking about a loft conversion in 2011 and we will be very careful to
whom we employ to do the plans/work. As other peole have stated it is buyer beware !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bev said 8:04AM on 8-21-2010
Top-Storey I would be very interested in getting your business details. I too live in Stockton on Tees and am looking for a loft conversion.
jason said 5:41AM on 8-21-2010
MY SPELLING MAY NOT BE GOOD BUT MY WORKMANSHIP IS THE BEST MONEY CAN BUY.
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roy said 5:29AM on 8-21-2010
i live in a old ship builders cottage built 1910 in sunderland i have a loft converstion ,i use the term loft conversion loosely ,cos to save a few quid the lad who did the conversion to save money put joist in at 24 inch centres i think you can see where this is going,so for me to put it right will cost about £10.000 so i would say be wary of cheap deals.
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John Dale said 5:48AM on 8-21-2010
Dave, I paid for that mistake 2 year ago, got a builder in to convert the loft, like a stupid WALLY, paid him half up front, when the builder was ready to put the stairs in, HE then brought up a tiny little point that the stairs would not work in this area, he then wanted another £7320.00 to take the floor back up, an re-design it, when I questioned him why he had not noticed the fault on the plans before he started, his reply "this is the plan I had asked him to give me a price on" bloody cowboy's all I can say is "GET LOFT EXPERTS IN" and I guess Caroline Cassidy has no idea what she is on about