Nickit

Hi. We have bought a small farm house in Lincolnshire, about an acre with a tiny 1910 farmhouse. We have plans to extend the original building, demolishing a portacabin like single storey and create a new two storey extension. At a preliminary meeting with the planner, they were happy with the plans in principle but asked why we didn’t want to knock down and rebuild. We hadn’t considered this and loads of advice says rebuild, better energy options, claim vat back etc. But we’re not too sure? Do people really get back their vat (or as much as they expect?) is it worth knocking down a small but serviceable 3 bed house to start again? We’ve got a sensible fund for the extension, but demolish and rebuild sounds a lot more expensive? Is it worth it in the long run ? Current property 160sqm. Extension would add 140sqm.