building a house....with future extension in mind

[Amateur bob]

got a good sized plot but limited budget of 200k for build cost at the moment im interested to know the best way to go about designing a house that i could build and live in just now for 200k but extend in the future any ideas would be welcome, if you leave a doorway on the side of the house for example is it straightforward enough to just build extension round that in the future? thanks

[ProDave]

Two obvious ways.

 

Design a house that works around a central stairwell hall and landing, but only build to one side of the stairwell, add the other side later.  Make all the future openings as doors or windows for an easy knock through when the time comes.

 

Or design a 1 bedroom bungalow but with the roof structure already built using attic trusses so converting the upstairs to more accommodation is easy.

[Carrerahill]

I would do a stage 2 design for the whole house but only take the part you will build now to detailed design which will include parts of the future ext. - I would then incorporate all the lintels and openings just now, then brick them up so that come extension time you can just remove those bricks and you are through.

 

On the founds I would pour founds some way into the extension and take into consideration any utility runs like pipes or electric etc. I would run the founds out so far with some rebar sticking out so you can continue them at a later date and connect into the existing easily - paint the ends and backfill with gravel so it is well drained and easy to excavate. I would run in the required cabling and things that may be needed to a convenient point and leave enough of a coil to get it well into the first socket or light switch etc.

 

If you are going for a slab found then I would do the whole slab in one go and just deck over it or something for now.

Edited June 27, 2019 by Carrerahill

[Amateur bob]

4 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Two obvious ways.

 

Design a house that works around a central stairwell hall and landing, but only build to one side of the stairwell, add the other side later.  Make all the future openings as doors or windows for an easy knock through when the time comes.

 

Or design a 1 bedroom bungalow but with the roof structure already built using attic trusses so converting the upstairs to more accommodation is easy.

interesting idea with the bungalow and trusses id get another floor and level above in future?, does it save much putting the upstairs off to a later date?

[scottishjohn]

35 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

interesting idea with the bungalow and trusses id get another floor and level above in future?, does it save much putting the upstairs off to a later date?

if you design it right you could just jack up the whole roof and fit TF panels or sips  second storey walls under it ?

you could even live in it while you did it with suitable scafolding

[the_r_sole]

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Edited September 26, 2019 by the_r_sole

[Amateur bob]

41 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

I've done a few single storey houses with future upstairs (room in roof type arrangements) - what has happened a couple of times is that the clients found enough money just to bash on with the upstairs halfway through! 

I've also done one which was designed as a very small -1 bed unit - with a future phase which was a lot bigger, it took a fair bit of design time to plan out making sure that there's no wasted space in the final house...

is there much money to be saved putting the upstairs off to a later date?

[the_r_sole]

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Edited September 26, 2019 by the_r_sole

[joth]

One thing to bear in mind is that anything you put off until a later date will cost more, as it will be hit by 20% VAT.

 

I'd look through the list of stuff that is / isn't VAT exempt on a new-build, and use that as one guide of what stuff to do now vs later. 

(Speaking through gritted teeth of someone doing the deep renovation and extension and now know I'd have saved a ton if I just demolished and rebuilt instead, purely due to this VAT silliness)

 

 

[Amateur bob]

15 hours ago, joth said:

One thing to bear in mind is that anything you put off until a later date will cost more, as it will be hit by 20% VAT.

 

I'd look through the list of stuff that is / isn't VAT exempt on a new-build, and use that as one guide of what stuff to do now vs later. 

(Speaking through gritted teeth of someone doing the deep renovation and extension and now know I'd have saved a ton if I just demolished and rebuilt instead, purely due to this VAT silliness)

 

 

thanks i didnt know that, can you not even claim it back once complete? i understand you can get round the vat issue when building by doing it through a builder?

[PeterW]

12 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

thanks i didnt know that, can you not even claim it back once complete? i understand you can get round the vat issue when building by doing it through a builder?

 

Only for a new build, not for an extension. All work after completion and a single VAT claim is VAT rateable at the correct rate. 

[Ferdinand]

18 hours ago, scottishjohn said:

if you design it right you could just jack up the whole roof and fit TF panels or sips  second storey walls under it ?

you could even live in it while you did it with suitable scafolding

 

Question whether that would be economic in terms of the extra strengthening needed in the initial roof structure.

[Hobbiniho]

On 27/06/2019 at 17:04, joth said:

One thing to bear in mind is that anything you put off until a later date will cost more, as it will be hit by 20% VAT.

 

i have worked on a few houses where we didnt build the upstairs, we did however put all the materials for finishing it off upstairs, this was so that the client could get the vat claim on the materials

[Ferdinand]

On 27/06/2019 at 16:09, the_r_sole said:

I've done a few single storey houses with future upstairs (room in roof type arrangements) - what has happened a couple of times is that the clients found enough money just to bash on with the upstairs halfway through! 

I've also done one which was designed as a very small -1 bed unit - with a future phase which was a lot bigger, it took a fair bit of design time to plan out making sure that there's no wasted space in the final house...

 

Yep that is the sort of thing that is possibly if they husband a big contingency.