who do i ask if disabled facilities will increase or lower house value

happyfella

The council want to build a big extention on my property and I need to know if this is going to increase or davlue the property. They want to block out the kitchen window and build the extention from there and go straight across my back room where they would install a door to go into the garden. So, there would be no natural light in the kitchen, but there would be some light coming into the back room of the property. Our lounge is a big room with windows at the back and windows at the front.

Although I need this, i do not want to go ahead if it is going to devalue the property and be impossible to sell on. So, i am trying to find out who would be the best people to speak to so I can get some advice.

I have tried contacting my local estate agents but none of them have come back to me. I just don't want to make a huge mistake. I would prefer to sell the house and rent somewhere if it is going to cause problems to my property

Stellar

in your situation, you are much better off staying where you are.

looking at hypothetical house value is the wrong way to go about this.

somebody will buy the house in the future even with all the adaptations. there will always be demand for housing. also other factors outside the house will rise or lower value even if you got the adaptations.

things like local builds, mass council house building campaign, a cultural shift away from homeownership, infrastructure projects like HS2 and the end of capitalism itself could all factor into your home losing value.

you need these adaptations in order to live a good life. the council wish to do it, something that's very difficult to get them to agree to. your access needs should come above everything else.

also as a disabled person, stay well out of the private rental market. given you're disabled, if you cannot work your chances of getting a place to rent are practically zero. there's so much competition.

plus you'll find it prohibitively difficult to find any property that is suitable and/or you can adapt with no issues. landlords make even fixing basic things difficult, adapting a private rental property is a pipe dream in comparison.

happyfella

thank you for the great advice

poppy123456

I don’t think it would be possible for anyone here to tell you if it will devalue your property. The only ones that can tell
you that would be estate agents. You need to be persistent, if they are not contacting you back. 

newborn

The only alternative is if you can get a better design and cost it out,  then see if the council will contribute part of the cost. They are quite likely to spend a lot on whatever is the ugliest solution.
Only you know the situation, but, for instance where light is blocked, there might be a way to include 'borrowed light' ?

66Mustang

In our limited experience - a few elderly relatives making quite major adaptations, minor adaptations for me, and a friend who had a lift installed in a 2 storey house - access facilities neither increase nor decrease the value

Most buyers will just view the house as if they weren't there, as they will rip them out anyway

In other words they won't pay you for them but they won't give you less for them being there...so you don't get the spent money back...but in your case that doesn't matter as it seems the council are doing it

happyfella

newborn said:

The only alternative is if you can get a better design and cost it out,  then see if the council will contribute part of the cost. They are quite likely to spend a lot on whatever is the ugliest solution.
Only you know the situation, but, for instance where light is blocked, there might be a way to include 'borrowed light' ?

I have been waiting for years and they have changed the design twice now, but each time they have ignored my requests. I keep telling them not to block out the kitchen window. They said they will listen and come up with a design that will not block out the kitchen window, but yesterday i got the designs through which one is a huge extension going across the back of the house, and the new one is still going across my kitchen and blocking the light out.

I was told if i changed the plans then my case would go back two years. They said I could talk to the builders when they come up to check everything out if anything can be altered.

I have heard back from two Estate Agents today who have told me it would be hard to sell if we wanted to sell up. I sent them the plans and they said people don't like to buy houses that don't have a kitchen window.

So, it looks like after xmas I am going to have to think about selling up and renting a property with a downstairs toilet

happyfella

woodbine said:

I cant see how a big extension could do anything but increase the value you of your property, but does it really matter that much at the moment unless you are thinking of selling up as soon as it's built ? An estate agent cant value what you don't yet have, one final thought who's paying for the extension ?

I am thinking of the long term future. I am looking at ten years down the line when it comes to the point that I can't get up the stairs.

happyfella

66Mustang said:

In our limited experience - a few elderly relatives making quite major adaptations, minor adaptations for me, and a friend who had a lift installed in a 2 storey house - access facilities neither increase nor decrease the value

Most buyers will just view the house as if they weren't there, as they will rip them out anyway

In other words they won't pay you for them but they won't give you less for them being there...so you don't get the spent money back...but in your case that doesn't matter as it seems the council are doing it

The council are paying £5,000 and the rest will be an attachment to the property if we sell. So, this is what is annoying me. We are paying the chunk of the money but they are not listening to me

poppy123456

What about a stairlift? That has to be a better solution that selling and renting your home. If you privately rent then there’s always risks to this and you never know when a landlord will want to sell up. 

2oldcodgers

happyfella said:

The council want to build a big extention on my property and I need to know if this is going to increase or davlue the property. They want to block out the kitchen window and build the extention from there and go straight across my back room where they would install a door to go into the garden. So, there would be no natural light in the kitchen, but there would be some light coming into the back room of the property. Our lounge is a big room with windows at the back and windows at the front.

Although I need this, i do not want to go ahead if it is going to devalue the property and be impossible to sell on. So, i am trying to find out who would be the best people to speak to so I can get some advice.

I have tried contacting my local estate agents but none of them have come back to me. I just don't want to make a huge mistake. I would prefer to sell the house and rent somewhere if it is going to cause problems to my property

If you are hoping to increase or maintain the value of your home, the first thing you should do is get an architect involved to design the addition you want or need in the way that not only does it increase value but ensures that each room of the home is what you want to live in. You should not be relying on what a builder says they want to do.
A builder builds it to specification and plan that you have agreed on.
I've seen so many awful extensions that just don't fit the character of the home. On the other hand I've seen some really good ones that you would think the the home was all original and not an add on. Oe in particular was originally a 3 bed pre war detached property. They have built a side extension of equal size to the original property with the main entrance now in the centre of the property instead of at the end. You would honestly think the finished article looks like a 6 bed mansion and built in the  1930's.
And please don't accept a flat roof rear extension it will look like a brick build shed attached to the home. 

davidb2010

I have recently been in a similar situation, where I needed major works to make my home more usable. We love our home, and with the improvements would have no desire to move so we went ahead with it using a local authority grant

I have had my driveway reconfigured to accommodate a wheelchair lift and a downstairs utility room turned into a wetroom.

Yes, I believe these would have a detrimental effect on house value, but I value my independence more!

The only big downside is that if the house was sold within 10 years, which would only happen if my wife and I both died, the council would take a contribution of their grant from the sale. This would be around £31,000.

Jimm_Scope

I would indeed question the point of house value if you are struggling to live within your own home! Your ability to love comfortably in your home would certainly come first for me.