[jacob and Georgina]

looking into buying a bungalow with a nice amount of land however we would like to convert it to make it a house so basically just add another floor to the existing footprint, (might be clutching at straws here as this is a smallholding forum not a building forum!) i was wandering if anyone on here had done or ever heard of it being done succesfully? idealy i would love to be able to get a rough price per sqm but cannot find one on the internet anywhere! perhaps there are even some builders on here who may be able to advise us!  we are in devon if that makes a difference to build costs! any replies would be greatly appreciated, many thanks in advance   

[ambriel]

Our house was built as a bungalow about 250 years ago and then had a second story added in 1932 so I know it can be done

I don't suppose that helps a lot though.

The important thing, I gather, is that the foundations are deep and strong enough to support a second storey.

You might find that in this modern throw-away age we live in it will be cheaper to demolish it and build a new timber-framed house instead.

[supplies for smallholders]

As above, The important thing is the foundations - dig next to the house to find how far down they go - then seek the opinion of a structural engineer, who would be essential to work out if the foundations will support another level.

A builder friend of mine (about 3 years ago, used to estimate on £1000 per square meter for a single story build and 2500 for two storey.

Thanks

[piggy]

As said before its all about foundations,we have an axenne on the side of our house and luckly for us when my neighbour build it for the previous owners he made them deep enough to add a second story,thats our plan when we have saved enough.

[Hermit]

We added another storey to our last house in 1995. As said a structural survey needs to be done. When our bungalow was built it was just after the war when materials were short so even the mortar had to be checked. Also the ceilings you have now are ceilings, the whole lot needs to be made into a floor including joists. It is well worth it though we added loads to the value. Height is an issue as well, some bungalows just dont have the legal apex height you can build into. Good luck.

[Crofter]

We bought our house as a bungalow. It has quite a high apex to the roof and we extended into the loft using Velux windows. Only needed a building warrent, not full planning permission. I did nearly all the work myself over 2 winters and we now have 2 more large bedrooms, a shower room/toilet and a box room.
We were allowed to "beef up" the 5" x 2" floor joists by adding a 2" x 2" to the top glued and screwed on and "plating" both faces with plywood glued and nailed on. Then a 22mm flooring and put in the stud walls. It has 100mm of Kingspan insulation between the rafters and the whole house is so much warmer than before too.

Dave

[ellied]

I looked into doing this with my bungalow (and a conservatory at the end and had plans half way drawn up but the agents valuing the property said not to bother because a buyer would probably knock it down and start again as the main value of my place isn't the 1970s bungalow but the 10 acres and it's "folk with money that buy these now and they wouldn't want your house"

I haven't the money now to do it so I guess when/if I manage to find somewhere to move to and put this on the market it will be on the basis of a "blank canvas" aka a before picture that someone will have to imagine as grand when they've poured money in it to suit their tastes

Or I may live in it another 20 years at this rate but at least I don't need to worry about doing it up cos I'd be wasting my time clearly   I also thought I might make a decent property developer but clearly not

[doganjo]

When I built my bungalow in 2005 I put in Attic trusses instead of W ones - cost an extra £5K but it was worth it as the folk who bought it were keen to extend upwards.  So, as well as foundations requiring to be correct (mine were done so that it was possible to take another level), the angle of the roof needs to be at least 35 degrees, preferably 40, as otherwise the roof needs to be taken off and raised and THAT is expensive.  Surveyor definitely needed before going any further.

[ShaunP]

Another consideration if you are planning on spending alot of money on this is VAT. It is sometimmes better to demolish and start again as new build is zero rated. You will have to build to the newer higher standards but you should consider that it is very hard to extend a property without there being a comprimise on design.

[Anke]

You also have to check first with the Planning depatment, as some houses (if they already have extensions or similar) will have reached their "development limit", that is you are not alowed to make it any bigger. We looked at an (OLD I have to say) property a few years back, and wouldn't even have been allowed to add on any extenion/conservatory or similar, so we didn't buy it.)

Also if you would have to raise the roof, Planning may decide that would make the house "look out of character" wihtin its environment, and wouldn't grant PP.

I would say for most bungalows it is cheaper to re-built from scratch, as you can make a new house so much more energy (etc) efficient.

One of the things to bear in mind is to look for rual building plots, if they are sold be the farmer s/he may be amenable to sell a few acres of field with it. though you probably would have to pay more than the usual agricultural prices. That's what we did.

[bazzais]

If your happy with the bungalow, buy it and then be more than happy with any extension you can build on top at a later date.

I would not move in anywhere with the anticipation of expanding as not only can you be disappointed by planners in denial of your application but you may also be disappointed by the time that it takes to get permission and expand if you do manage to get that 'permission'.

- Point - the only reason the countryside is not littered by people extending houses and building new developments is because planning permission is hard to come by.

- Point - you may have a better chance if your actually going to farm the land and become a member of the local community/economy and are not just using the land as an excuse to expand the house.

- Point - are you in any other planning authority outside council? like a national park?

Have you looked on the planning portal to see if anything has been denied in the past? If not have a gander as its all listed.

Baz

[SallyintNorth]

Baz' note just made me think - if the bungalow is relatively recent (within a couple or three decades?) then would there be records of the planning consent that was given for it to be built?  Which might, for instance, include that it has to be a single-story dwelling and cannot be extended upwards.  I think that is fairly common where a dwelling is allowed for a farm worker or retired farmer.  Sometimes the Local Plan will give guidance on what developments would and would not be likely to be approved - for instance, no second storeys outside the envelope (forgotten the technical term, the area of a village within which development is more likely to be permitted.)

You mention Devon - I used to be in North Devon and the Local Plan was tremendously clear and comprehensive on how different types of planning applications would be assessed.

I've just re-read your original post and see that you were not asking for planning advice at all, so my apologies if this is not at all helpful or worse!  Since I've typed it I'll leave it in anyway.

[doganjo]

I think your planning advice is relevant though Sally.  It's all part of the package.

[OhLaLa]

Before you do anything get the deeds checked to make sure it hasn't got a Covenant on it to prevent another floor going on. If it has, you can't extend upwards.

[jacob and Georgina]

these are all extremely useful replies, planning is obviously the most important thing to consider! so dont mind reading about it, the land is the best part of this property with 10 acres of good flat pasture land, and amazing views so as, bazzais we may decide to go ahead and just keep our fingers crossed with regards to the extension/extra floor! have spoke briefly to the council and they said that they cant see a reaon why we couldnt do it, but that doesnt mean anything really!! as they do not know what the locals will think!