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Top hat extension or rebuild house

Posted by Christina White, on Thu 12 Nov 2015 09:58pm

I have a bungalow that is roughly 800sqft. I want to increase the bungalow but am unsure as to which way would be best take. I have a builder who says that building anew has hidden difficulties at the end that no one talks about to do with warranties and reconnections and that sort of thing, signing off jobs, he makes it sound like it is very time consuming and not worth the agro but I am unsure if it is really all that difficult. Surely you get Latent defects insurance during the build and comply with both regulations of Building regs plus the warranty companies requirements in accordance with the architects plans? Can anyone shed some light on this issue for me please. I feel that a knock down and build a new will eventually create a better looking and better planned home with more value than a top hat extension. Your thoughts will be greatly received.

martin wilburn

Thu 12 Nov 2015 10:20pm

Hi Christina I would say if you want to create your dream home then knock down and start again, there are no real difficulties with reconnections and NHBC etc as long as you use experienced and sensible builder. However from a cost point of view a refurbishment come to remodel can be cheaper, I would recommend speaker to a number of builders to get a varied consensus Martin

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