Loft conversion cost
You may be wondering the cost of a Loft conversion. Will it be £10,000, £20,000 or more. Well if you think £10, 000 is the right figure, please don’t call us, as this won’t even cover the costs of the materials. If you been told that £10k will get you a legal loft conversion, it will not be to current building regulations and so will not add any value to your home. Part build rooflight loft conversion can be done much cheaper.
Loft conversion that have been done badly will not only devalue your home but also be very dangerous. I can recall when I had bumped into a customer who I had visited and quoted on a loft conversion . He boasted to me that he was getting his loft converted by a builder who had quoted nearly half what I had done. Intriged by this i couldn’t resist popping in when I had driven past his house and seeing some work had commenced
As I approached the house I noticed the roof looked like it was seriously sagging. The place was deserted as the builder had left the front door open, although the customer had not yet moved in, I still found this unaccepable.
However this was nothing compared to the situation in the loft.
The sagging was easily expalined as the purlins had been removed and had not been re-supported. The roof woulkd certainly collapse. A loft conversion needs proper planning and a structural engineer calculations so the roof is re-supported and the floor structure is correctly supported.
You could not stand up in the loft, and I’m not tall and the ceiling height was 1.7m. the floor sank as I walked. It was a real shambles and would cost thousands to just put back to original.
WE CAN DO YOUR LOFT
I can recall another loft conversion which we had signed up and the customer had then got a much cheaper quote. I later heard from architect that the builder (who was using our drawings) had used the wrong size timbers on the floor contruction. The whole loft had to be taken out and done again.
The loft conversion cost is not only the cost of the conversion but also the value it adds to your home.
Touchstone lofts will not only design but build and finish your loft to a very high standard which will add significant value to your home.
Choose a reputable company that has a Masterbond affilation with ” The Federation of Master Builders.”
Your house is your biggest asset, so invest wisely.
Negative Equity- Four year warning!
Negative equity for four years
Negative equity has raised its ugly head again as the “National housing federation ” (NHF) has said this week that those homeowners who bought their homes in the peak of the market will suffer negative equity for up to four years.
The peak of the market was in 2007 when the average house price was £216,800. The number of mortgages available are extremely limited and the banks continue to play there part in our housing market by limiting funding.
Bank of England figures show that the number of mortgage approvals are barely rising and the amount of money lent for mortgages was a meagre £86 million, one of the lowest figures ever recorded.
The fear of job losses and the continued cutbacks from the government are sending a spine chilling fear throughout the average homeowner. The recovery seems prolonged but there seems a deserved hangover after the excesses of the last decade.
Forecasts
According to the NHF, house prices in England will dip again next year by 3%, before steadily climbing thereafter.
The federation expects prices to be 22% higher by 2015 than they were in 2009, bringing the average price of a house to £226,900.
Net mortgage lending rose by only £86m in July, one of the lowest monthly increases on record.
“The Bank’s July mortgage figures offer further evidence of a stabilisation in the level of home loans,” said Brian Murphy of mortgage brokers the Mortgage Advice Bureau.
“The October Spending Review — D-Day for consumer confidence — is approaching fast and many prospective borrowers are understandably being cautious.”
Forecasts
According to the NHF, house prices in England will dip again next year by 3%, before steadily climbing thereafter.
The federation expects prices to be 22% higher by 2015 than they were in 2009, bringing the average price of a house to £226,900.
The NHF, which represents housing associations in England, said in its report that prices are still too high for many buyers.
Unless homeowners wish to sell their property, being in negative equity – when your home has become worth less than the mortgage secured against it – does not necessarily pose a problem.
But it is when people are looking to move that they can face a struggle, as lenders are entitled to insist that borrowers redeem their loans.
In theory, if the mortgage is worth more than the house and the borrowers cannot find the money elsewhere, they will be prevented from moving.
‘Perfect storm’
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has said that house prices are starting to fall, while figures from the Land Registry suggest that prices are levelling off, two very different views.
The accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers expects prices to be flat for the second half of 2010, and warned that they might not reach the levels seen at the peak of the market for another decade.
“A combination of circumstances in the market have made it very, very difficult for house prices to recover,” NHF chief executive said.
“But actually the big problem that we have is that we’ve created a kind of perfect storm where there is negative equity for some people and they’re trapped and can’t move, but prices haven’t come down enough to make buying a home a realistic option for people in their 20s and 30s in ordinary jobs.
“We really are in danger of pricing people out of owner-occupation.”
He also criticised government decisions to scrap regional house-building targets and withdraw funding for affordable housing.
“Proposed caps on housing benefit payments could also put nearly a million people on low incomes at risk of losing their home,” he added.
The market is further complicated by the regional variations, London is booming whilst the north is receding.
How Do we do it – Loft Conversions
Loft Conversions from Touchstone Lofts
I can’t really bottle the way customers feel once they see what we have created from the loft space above their existing homes. But, if I could, the image above captures it.
Velux windows and a splash of design from our team of designers, architects and engineers and “ hey presto”- the wow factor of your home. Touchstone lofts can deliver a fabulous space and have made award winning dreams (loft conversions) come true.
The loft conversion could be a bedroom, a chill out adult room, a cinema or an office. A grand master suite with a dressing room and en-suite is the normal loft conversion. But, don’t let that hold you back.
Beat the VAT increase
Govermnent plans to balance the nations books involve a rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20%. For a typical Loft Conversion this could add £1000 to the bottom line.
The price of moving house to gain a bedroom can be up to £150,000 to £200,000. A Loft conversion will cost a fraction of the cost of moving.
We expect to get pretty busy and are already seeing an increase in customer enquiries and our customers are well aware of the importance of getting the contracts signed.
A Loft Conversion will add value to your home and provide you with the extra room you require. The loft conversion could be a bedroom, infact nearly all the loft conversions we do are bedrooms and most have an ensuite.
Budget 2010
Budget key points
Regarded as being the most important budget of the century, this budget is seen as a real test for the new administration and the new chancellor. Generally the budget has been received well, taking key tax raising decisions while giving some relief to business as it is business who will drag this country out of recession. However has he gone too far and put the frigntners on Joe public. There is a real fear that the fear he has put onto the country will result in people hanging on to their purses.
budget 2010
Here are the key points of Chancellor George Osborne’s first Budget, delivered on 22 June, 2010:
TAX
VAT: Rate will rise from 17.5% to 20% from January 4, 2011.
Personal income tax allowance: To be increased by £1,000 in April to £7,475 – worth £170 a year to basic rate taxpayers. It is expected that 880,000 of the lowest-paid will be taken out of income tax altogether.
Council tax: Could be frozen for one year from April 2011 in England, but extra funds will only be offered to councils which keep their own costs down. Worth about £35 per household.
Capital Gains Tax: To rise from 18% to 28% from midnight for higher rate taxpayers. The “entrepreneurs relief” rate of 10% on the first £2m of gains will be extended to the first £5m.
A 50p a month “landline tax” to fund the rollout of fast broadband will be scrapped – instead the government will support private investment, partly funded by the digital switchover under-spend within the TV licence fee.
The balance of spending cuts to tax rises would be 77% to 23%.
CIGARETTES, ALCOHOL AND FUEL
no increases, cider tax increase scrapped
BENEFITS
Child benefit: Frozen for the next three years.
Tax credits: Reduced for families earning over £40,000 next year. But low income families will get more Child Tax Credit – the amount per child will rise by £150 above the rate of inflation next year – at an annual cost of £2bn.
Housing benefit: New maximum limit of £400 a week for properties with more than three bedrooms, £250 a week for a one-bedroom flat, £290 for a two-bedroom property and £340 for a three-bed property, to save £1.8bn a year by the end of the Parliament.
Unemployed people will see their Housing Benefit cut by 10%, after 12 months of claiming Jobseekers Allowance from April 2013.
It will also be cut for people of working age who are in larger homes than their family size warrants but, from April 2011, disabled claimants who do not have a resident carer will be able to claim for an extra bedroom.
Health in pregnancy grant to be abolished from April 2011, the Sure Start maternity grant will be restricted to the first child.
Lone parents will be expected to look for work when their youngest child goes to school.
Excluding the state pension and pension credit, from 2011 benefits, tax credits and public service pensions will rise in line with the Consumer Price Index, rather than the, generally higher, Retail Price Index, saving over £6 billion a year by the end of the Parliament.
The government will introduce a medical assessment for Disability Living Allowance from 2013 for new and existing claimants.
The welfare shake-up will save £11bn by 2014/15.
PUBLIC SECTOR PAY
Public sector workers face a two-year pay freeze if they earn over £21,000. Those earning less £21,000 will get a flat pay-rise worth £250 in both years. This will be very well received.
Armed services personnel in Afghanistan will see their operational allowance doubled to £4,800 – as announced by David Cameron two weeks ago.
PENSIONS
The basic state pension will be linked to earnings from April 2011, with the pension guaranteed to rise in line with earnings, prices or 2.5%, whichever is the greater.
The government will accelerate the increase in state pension age to 66 – a “call for evidence” will be made later this week.
The government will also consult on phasing out the default retirement age – to ensure those who want to work past 65 are able to do so.
Former Labour Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton to review public sector pensions, ahead of the autumn spending review.
BUSINESS
From April 2011, the threshold at which employers start to pay National Insurance will rise by the rate of inflation plus £21 per week. A lot more was expected here.
Corporation Tax will be cut next year to 27%, and by 1% annually for the next three years, until it reaches 24%.
The small companies’ tax rate will be cut to 20%.
Tax relief for the video games industry will be scrapped.
BANKS
A bank levy will be introduced, which will apply to the balance sheets of UK banks and building societies and the UK operations of foreign banks from January 2011. But smaller banks will not have to pay. It is expected to raise over £2bn a year. David cameron will fail to get international agreemnt on this.
ENVIRONMENT
The government will “explore changes to the aviation tax system” such as switching from a per-passenger to a per-plane levy. It will consult on major changes.
Government looking at reforming the climate change levy “to provide more certainty and support to the carbon price”. Proposals to be published in the autumn.
The Office for Budget Responsibility will assess the effect of oil price fluctuations on the public finances over the summer, before the government looks at options for a “fair fuel stabiliser” – which would see fuel duty fall when prices go up, and vice versa.
Case for rural fuel duty discount is under consideration.
REGIONS
White Paper to be published on tackling regional economic differences in Britain later in the summer, followed by a paper on rebalancing the economy of Northern Ireland.
The upgrade of the Tyne and Wear Metro, extension of the Manchester Metrolink, redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station and improvements to the rail lines to Sheffield and between Liverpool and Leeds will go ahead.
A Regional Growth Fund will be created to help fund regional capital projects over two years.
People setting up new businesses outside London, the South East and the east of England will be exempt from £5,000 of National Insurance payments for the first 10 workers.
UK ECONOMY
Growth forecast revised down from 2.6% to 2.3% in 2011. this is down from 2.8% expected for 2011.
The economy is predicted to grow by 1.2 % this year, 2.3% next year, 2.8% in 2012, 2.9% in 2013 and 2.7% in both 2014 and in 2015.
Debt to peak in 2013/14 at 70% of GDP.
Unemployment is forecast to peak this year at 8.1% and then fall for each of the next four years, to reach 6.1% in 2015.
Consumer price inflation is expected to reach 2.7% by the end of 2010 before “returning to target in the medium term”. The inflation target remains at 2%, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index.
The UK is set to miss the previous government’s “golden rule” – of borrowing only to invest over the economic cycle – in the current cycle by £485bn.
BORROWING
Underlying current budget deficit should be “in balance” by 2015/16.
Public sector net borrowing will be £149bn this year, £116bn next year, £89bn in 2012-13 and £60bn in 2013-14.
By 2014-15 borrowing to reach £37bn, falling to £20bn in 2015-16.
SPENDING
Mr Osborne said the state now accounted for “almost half” of all national income which was “completely unsustainable”.
Average real terms budget cuts of 25% over four years – except for health and international aid. Departmental cuts amount to a further £17bn by 2014-15, on top of those already planned.
But current expenditure to rise from £637bn in 2010-11 to £711bn in 2015-16 – partly due to rising debt interest payments.
No further reductions in capital spending totals but there will be “careful choices” about how the money was spent. Projects with “a significant economic return to the country” would be prioritised.
Economy looking set to stabalise
- economy
Economic growth has been predicted at 2.8% for 2011 which is lower than that predicted by the outgoing government.
House prices up and level?
house prices up or down
Only last week we have had conflicting reports on house prices. The Halifax and Nationwide provided conflicting reports on the state of the UK housing market. Whilst the Halifax said house prices fell again for the consecutive month, Nationwide reported that house prices were rising.
History has shown that whilst estate agents can only report on what their company is experiencing, they do not represent what is happening in detail.
Prices are rising where there is a shortage of housing and the local ecocnomy is bouyant.
Where there is a rise in unemployment and there is a surplus of property, prices are falling.
If you need a bigger house, there is not a better time to get a
loft conversion. A loft conversion will give you an additional bedroom and add value to your home.
Central London has risen in price and is predicted to rise strongly in 2011. Prices in the rest of the UK will stagnate and vary depending on local economy.
Selling in a flat market to scale down will lose you money, whilst the opposite will make you money.
HIPS are history
Good news for the housing market as the government scrapped this ridiculous scheme. The HIPS scheme was generally a disaster and generally disregarded by homebuyers.
There will still be a requirement to provide an EPC (Energy performance certificate) as part of the contiued drive to ensure that our homes are more energy efficient.
What does this mean for the average person who may be considering selling their home-
- no more beaeaucratic dekays of waiting for HIPS to be produced
- An average saving of £395
the levels of house enquiries are up report estate agents and the housing market seems to haved bottomed out.
Loft conversion enquiries continue to rise as homebuyers moving into there new home are seeking a
loft conversion to maximise the space in their home. There has been a big increase in homebuyers wanting a
loft conversion before they move into their homes.
Loft Conversions- A Short term investment
invest wisely
Property is well known to be an excellent long term investment. 70% of Brits own their home and demographics in our country will always cause prices to rise. Immigration, longer living, divorce and marrying later in life are obvious factors.
Home improvements boost house values but the type of improvement will affect the level of return.
Loft conversions always top the league “return on investment” for home improvement. Nationwide building society reports have confirmed that a loft conversion can add up to 20% to the value of your home.
In these uncertain times, keeping the faith in property is important, and to remember that houses will never go out of fashion. We may stop buying records but we still need somewhere to listen to the music.
A loft conversion is not a long term, but a short term investment, in most cases what you spend on your conversions is added directly to the value of your house at the very least.
Contact www.Touchstonelofts.co.uk for your free loft conversion feasibility appointment.
Loft Conversions-get it done legal
loft conversion
Planning a loft conversion is no easy feat. Its probably the biggest sum of money you will part with, unless you buy expensive sports cars every season. Your home is probably your biggest asset, so any alteration you want to make to it should be done properly and add value to your home.
Planning permission is rarely required these days but buildings regulations is always required. There are a number is issues to consider from structural stability, insulation, electrical certification, plumbing and heating to mention a few. All these need to comply with current building regulations.
Using an experienced and accredited Loft conversion specialist will ensure your loft is converted to a high standard and will be gauranteed. A Masterbond affilated member of the Federation of Master builders is essential for peace of mind.