If you really love the location of your home but find it’s just a bit too small for your current needs, you don’t have to go through the hassle of selling your home and moving.  An extension will give you the space that you need and you’ll be able to live in the area you love for as long as you want!  Is it a viable project cost wise?  To help you make this decision we’ve put together an overview on how much you can expect your home extension to cost.  For more advice, have a chat with your local extensions professional.

The Costs Associated With a Home Extension

It’s tempting to go rushing off to builders with only vague plans in the hopes of getting a decent quote about how much your home extension will cost.  Unfortunately, it’s not that simple!  While it is true that going out is generally cheaper than going up, there are some costs that are associated with all home extensions.  These include:

• The cost of working with an architect or draftsman in order to draw up detailed design plans for your new home extension

• The cost of obtaining planning permissions and building permits from your local council

• The costs of construction – labour, building materials, fittings, finishes etc

• Having to stay elsewhere if the home becomes unliveable during the construction phase (such as if the bathroom is being ripped out and relocated, leaving you without a bathroom)

What Affects the Price of a Home Extension?

There are three main things that will have a serious effect on the cost of your home extension. If you are extending upwards by adding a second storey, this is nearly always more expensive than extending outwards on the ground floor.  This is because the roof has to be pulled off, the new floor strengthened and so on.  What you are actually adding also has an effect.  Kitchens and bathrooms are known for being the most expensive rooms to add, while simple rooms such as new living areas or bedrooms are a lot more cost effective.  Finally, the materials that you choose to use will have an effect on the overall price.  While you want to use quality materials, certain materials will be more expensive than others. For example, natural stone is much more expensive than cement made to look like stone.

As a general guide, you can expect extensions to cost around $1000 to $2500 per square metre, with second storey additions being around 30 percent more.  Always try to build a substantial buffer into your budget though to account for any unexpected complications or delays.

Remember that Extensions Can Save You Money!

It may seem expensive to add an extension on to your home but it is important to remember that it can actually save you money thanks to the hidden costs of moving to a bigger and better home.  Those hidden costs include real estate agent fees for selling and buying a new home, the cost of transferring your home loan to a new property, stamp duty fees, the cost of hiring removalists plus all of the other miscellaneous costs of moving such as cancelling or transferring your monthly services (electricity, phone, internet, etc).