So, we were going to have our garage rebuilt and kitchen extended sideways but now that's not going to happen. Not for a while at least. The cost would have been 70k and put up our mortgage by about 350/mo. All within reasonable limits but I recently ran some numbers (because I'm quite good at that) and:
- Our living costs are inching up; I've saved a lot by going to Bulb (energy), moving insurance, I rarely use the car (£50 of fuel in 3 months).
- My salary is static. Likely to remain so for another year.
- Kate is going to be out of work for about 4 years: once Naomi is ready for nursery and her counselling course is complete. Doing anything big on one salary is unwise.
- Interest rates are going to go up, which will eat a little more.
And the big one...
- Brexit
I think it's prudent to wait until after we've left and the dust has settled before getting stuck in.
The good thing about planning permission is that it lasts for a very long time, so if we need to pause - or even not do it - then we can indefinitely. All we've really lost is the money paid to the architects, which I think was worthwhile.
It's quite depressing but we'll make it work; it just means that I'm unlikely to be VRing for a good few years. :(
Comments
Is there any leeway in re-mortgaging? I only ask as we are approaching the end of our fixed-rate term from when we bought in 2013, and house prices have gone up so much in Reading that our Loan-to-Value ratio has changed considerably (from 15% owndership to somewhere above 40%), and we should be liable for a much better rate.
I suppose it's very dependent on your current arrangement.
We're able to get a much better rate but the mortgage will be going from 165k to 240k on a house worth 320k . That's still 350 a month on only my salary. We have slack enough now but that slack has reduced each month and will keep doing so with inflation and Brexit
The work so far is not lost. We have planning permission, so we can sit on it. It's just an arse. I'm not looking forward to explaining this to Felix. Having bunny rabbits as pets is the main thing he gets and the space inside isn't big enough for house bunnies.
you could phrase it this way no room for the rabbits but luckily rabbits are delicious so it's rabbit pie for dinner enjoy your new pets while they last :)
Or superglue a pompom and some ears on a hamster and say it's a dwarf rabbit.
Rabbits are the most practical pet, simply as they are socially acceptable to eat. And delicious.
Felix is 8 now. He understands how to burn things with a magnifying glass. And with petrol. He understand burning things with petrol. Just saying.
Ah so the solution is to have Felix burn down your current house with petrol then claim on the insurance since they can't convict a minor of arson Got you very smart
I wouldn't recommend cooking rabbit with a magnifying glass or a petrol fire. It stews pretty well...
Cut your contruction costs by telling Felix that bricks are just Lego for "grown ups", then put him to work.