Hi there, hope you can help.. We've just had an offer accepted on a house, but how much we put down as a deposit depends on how much our planned renovations will cost. I know it's impossible to make a proper judgement without more information, but I'm so clueless on this sort of thing so think someone else would have more luck plucking a random figure out of the air than I will!

We have two possible plans.

Plan 1:
Make the lounge smaller and the playroom bigger.
Put a double glazed window where there was previously no window. Take down an interior wall and put up a new one. (The wall to be taken down is currently load bearing). Decorate the lounge and playroom, incl flooring.

Plan 2:
Make the lounge smaller, turn the playroom and dining room into a large kitchen diner. Turn the old kitchen into a playroom.
Put in the window. Take down 2 interior walls (prob only one load bearing) and put up one wall. Take out the kitchen and put it in the new room (units etc can probably be reused but would need new plumbing and electrical done). Decorate lounge, kitchen diner and playroom, incl flooring.

Obviously there's a very clear winner when it comes to costs, but if we could find a way to afford the second plan it would make a good house into an absolutely fantastic house. I expect it will add value and ease of selling, as currently the house is not well set out, but I doubt it would add as much value as it would cost - so its value would be in the pleasure we'd have of living there! We'd almost entirely be paying professionals to do the work.

Thanks in advance x

It's impossible to say without seeing the job but I've just been involved in a job that involved removirng a chimney stack and one internal load bearing wall, moving two lots of external drains, new utility, new kitchen, new window and new doorway and door, plastering (thermal check board) and flooring and it all came to about £20,000. And I'm told this has put more value on the house than it cost.

That's good advice Vickivixen, always nice to have reserves for eventualities.

Me old man used to say got 2 bob spend a shilling and keep a shilling.