We Almost Moved Instead of Doing London House Extensions, Here Is Why We Stayed
The estate agent valued our house, found us three places to view, and we nearly put in an offer on a bigger home two miles away. Then we did the maths properly. Moving would have cost us close to sixty thousand in fees, stamp duty, and the rest, with nothing to show but a slightly bigger house in a worse spot. That is the moment we started taking London house extensions seriously.
We had assumed moving was the obvious answer to needing more space. Most people do. But once we lined up the real numbers, extending our own home looked far smarter. A well planned London extensions architect could give us the space we wanted while keeping the street, the schools, and the neighbours we already loved.
The thing that swung it was realising how much of the moving cost simply vanishes. Stamp duty alone on the bigger place was eye watering. Spend that on your own house instead and at least the money turns into something you actually use.
The Real Cost of Moving We Ignored
When you only look at the asking price, moving seems clean and simple. The hidden costs are where it hurts.
Stamp duty, estate agent fees, legal fees, surveys, removals, and the inevitable bits you redo in the new place. It stacked up to tens of thousands before we had unpacked a single box.
And none of that money improves your life in any lasting way. It is the price of the transaction, gone the moment the deal completes. That realisation made extending look far more sensible.
Why Staying Put Made Sense
We liked where we lived. The kids were settled at the local school. We knew our neighbours. The commute worked. Moving would have meant giving all of that up for square footage.
Extending let us keep everything good about our current life and just fix the one problem, which was space. That felt like the smarter trade.
A rear single storey extension opening the kitchen into the garden would give us the family space we lacked, without uprooting anything that already worked.
What Kind of Extension Suited Our House
We have a standard Victorian terrace, the kind all over London. Deep, narrow, dark in the middle, with a useless side passage and a kitchen cut off at the back.
The architect explained the common options. A rear extension into the garden. A side return infill. A wraparound combining both. Each suited a different need and budget.
For us, a modest rear extension with some side return infill made the most sense. It opened the ground floor and brought light into the dark middle without costing as much as a full wraparound.
The Value It Added Back
Here is the part that made the decision easy. A good extension doesnt just cost money, it adds value to the house. In a strong London area, the increase often covers a big chunk of the build.
Our architect was realistic about this, not over promising. But the type of open plan kitchen and extra space we were adding is exactly what buyers in our area look for.
So the money we spent stayed in our asset rather than disappearing into moving fees. If we ever did sell, much of it would come back. That is the opposite of stamp duty.
Living Through It Versus Moving Stress
People warned us that living through a build is hard. It is. There were weeks of dust, a temporary kitchen, and noise. I wont pretend otherwise.
But moving is its own kind of stress, just spread differently. Packing a whole house, the uncertainty of a chain, settling into a new area. Neither option is painless.
The difference is that after the build, we were still home, just with a better home. After a move, you are starting over. We decided a few months of mess beat years of missing where we used to live.
How to Make the Same Decision
Do the full moving maths first. Not just the price difference, but every fee, tax, and cost. Put a real number on what moving actually takes out of your pocket.
Then get an architect to assess what your current home could become. You might be surprised how much space is hiding in a side return or a rear extension you hadnt pictured.
Six to eight months from that estate agent valuation to a finished extension, and we never moved an inch. The bigger house two miles away sold to someone else. We stayed exactly where we wanted to be, with the space we needed. Sometimes the best move is no move at all.
