Should I renovate my home or move house?

Whether your family’s expanding, you’re planning to set up a home office for better work/life balance or you’re simply craving a home cinema, playroom or gymnasium, it’s not always the best strategy to move up the property ladder. In reality, the positives of renovating or extending can in many cases outweigh the benefits of selling up and moving on. Of course, there’s nothing quite like that moment when the estate agent hands over the keys and you cross the threshold of your new home for the first time as proud owners, but the joy can quickly turn to frustration when reality kicks in. You might be moving to a new location to which you and your family will need to adapt. In your excitement, you may have overlooked some of the costs of moving and the higher bills you’ll now need to be paying. And suddenly, looking at the empty shell of your new home, you may be realising that it requires some unplanned work to bring it up to scratch.
As well as potentially bringing about a change of scene and routine, moving house can be one of the most stressful experiences of your life. Anyone in the chain can cause delays to the process or – in the worst case – change their mind or fail to secure a mortgage, resulting in the chain breaking down completely. Conveyancers and estate agents can take their eye off the ball and mortgage companies can also be inefficient. All in all, moving house can be riddled with delays and frustrations.
That’s why, with house prices continuing to rise and the costs of moving showing no signs of reducing, many homeowners in North Nottinghamshire are looking to remodel their current property and add value in the process.

When you’re considering whether to renovate or move, it’s important to look beyond the bricks and mortar before deciding the way forward. Familiarity shouldn’t be underestimated, for example. If you have children, the likelihood is that they’ll be settled into a routine at school and with sports and social clubs. There are also friendship groups, both for the children and grownups, which can be disrupted, especially if you are moving to a new area, not to mention the need to adjust to new surroundings, such as shops, pubs and restaurants. It’s easy to overlook these factors, but they can have a big impact on the whole family.
In more practical terms, moving is expensive. More expensive, on occasions, than staying put and improving your current home. Costs that need to be considered include the dreaded stamp duty, solicitors’ fees, survey fees, estate agency commission (if you’re also selling), removal costs and, possibly, an increased mortgage with an arrangement fee. It’s also easy to miss such expenses as Land Registry fees, phone lines and broadband connections, mail redirection, higher insurance premiums and even storage fees if the timings aren’t completely favourable. Whatever the size of property you’ve set your sights on, the costs can soon mount up.
So if you decide to stay put, what are the key things to consider when thinking about renovating? Newton Fraser of Refresh Renovations believes that any home renovation should go back to basics. ‘At Refresh we focus on identifying what the client is hoping to achieve by staying in their familiar surroundings,’ comments Newton. ‘We encourage our clients to avoid rushing into a renovation project without proper planning and budgeting, and we stress that a key benefit of renovating is that you can actually stagger the work and reduce the disruption to your day-to-day life by focusing on one room at a time. And if we’re looking at a home extension we like to take the time to explore lots of different ideas for the structure, the design, the inclusion of natural daylight, and so on.

‘Whether it’s a full-scale extension, remodelling the downstairs to open plan or redesigning the kitchen, we believe it’s really important to have a clear vision of what we’re trying to achieve, and at what price. As experienced Nottingham builders, we know what works in the local market and can advise our clients on not only how to get the best results but also how to add value to their property. The most recent research shows that house prices across Nottinghamshire increased by 4.6% in the last 12 months. Across the UK, house prices rose by 3% in the same period, so North Nottinghamshire is currently outperforming the country as a whole. The downside of that is, of course, that the costs of moving are rising all the time, which is why we love helping our clients to maximise the enjoyment and value they enjoy from their current home through clever but cost-effective extensions and renovations. We also know that whatever solution we arrive at we will always be increasing the property’s value, which is a huge benefit for the homeowner – in effect it’s a win:win scenario.’
Refresh Renovations UK are Nottingham builders offering home extensions and renovations. To discuss how we can help you realise your property dream, please get in touch today using the enquiry form listed alongside, or if you would like to submit a more comprehensive enquiry, you can do so on the Get In Touch page.