Victorian Half House - Extension Dilemma

[Partriguez]

Hi,

My wife and I live in a 2 bedroom half-house on Silvester Road and we are currently planning a rear extension and loft conversion as we would like to start a family, love the area and don't want to move out of the area to be able to afford a 3 bed house! We are struggling to decide on a suitable layout and design.

As those of you who live in a half-house understand, the trade off with a half-house versus a normal house is you share a front door and hallway with your neighbour (with 2 internal entrance doors thereafter)and the bathroom is normally always on the ground floor. We have an existing, but very old, rear L-shaped extension incorporating a galley kitchen and bathroom. We are unsure whether to move the bathroom upstairs by using some of the precious bedroom space or to keep it downstairs but fill-in the side return and open up the kitchen - full width with bi-fold doors and sky-lights. Has anyone done this to their half-house?

We are also thinking of converting the loft at the same time (suffer the disruption in one go!) but we are struggling to visualise the space that the loft conversion with en-suite would provide. Are there any local half-house owners reading this that have converted their loft? We would be very grateful if you would be so kind as to show us your loft conversion (in person or via pictures) so that we can understand what the space will look like.

Where did you position your new staircase? was it directly above the existing staircase? If so, is the size of the second bedroom still adequate for a child's room?

Thank you so much and sorry for all the questions!

[goldilocks]

Have you tried looking at the planning portal to see if any of your neighbours have done something similar? Not the same as looking at a finished version, but might give you an idea.

[sandy_rose]

You might be able to get a few ideas on Rightmove

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=35432672&sale=47341865&country=england

http://www.langfordrussell.co.uk/property-for-sale/2-bedroom-house-in-dunstans-road-east-dulwich-se22-P196144/floorplans/#tabs

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=33943467&sale=54510305&country=england

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=33975450&sale=2442472&country=england

[intexasatthe moment]

What a good idea sandy_rose ! Why didn't I think of that -)

[Saffron]

Do you have room to put in a half-bath upstairs (basically just a loo and sink)? Not done a conversion, but I have lived in a house with just a single toilet on a separate floor to the bedrooms...

It's not brilliant for getting up in the middle of the night to do a million wees (like when you're 8 mos pregnant).

And the opposite: Try getting a toddler upstairs to the only toilet, when you're already dressed and nearly out the front door. Not easy. xx

[Alps]

Hi there, this is my wife's account and she has just showed me this post as she thought I might be able to help you. I am a local estate agent and have plenty of experience in half houses, I have recently advised a client in a similar situation as yourself who was contemplating the most efficient way to extend into a half house loft. With some suggestions a decision was made to create a master bedroom suite in the loft with an en-suite shower room. The staircase was taken from the larger of the two bedrooms so that there was two equal size rooms rather than one box room. The result was a very nice balanced space on all floors and my clients are very happy with the result. Although I am uncertain of the layout of your property and all half houses are slightly different from the next, im sure that a solution can be found for your own property. Feel free to follow this link to see the details of the house I am talking about, perhaps it might help to give you some ideas.

http://www.pickwickestates.com/detail/2306/SE220HF_crebor-street.htm

If you would like to discuss further I am happy to give you my details via my wife's account here.

[kristyl]

Hi there,

There were two houses just completed before Christmas (near the sorting office) on Silvester Rd. They were completed by Michael at the New Zealand loft conpany. He could probably help you with ideas.