The Extend or Move Dilemma
Every year, thousands of London homeowners hit the same wall. The family is growing, the house feels tight, and the question becomes unavoidable: do we extend, or do we move? It sounds like a simple financial decision, but it rarely is. It involves your finances, your family's lifestyle, your attachment to your home and neighbourhood, and your appetite for disruption.
The Case for Extending
You love where you live. Your children are settled in schools, you know your neighbours, you're close to work. Uprooting all of that has a cost that doesn't show up in a spreadsheet.
The property has genuine potential. Victorian and Edwardian terraces, semi-detached houses with side returns or loft space, and houses with usable rear gardens can often deliver significant additional space without losing their character.
The move maths doesn't add up. Moving house is expensive. Stamp duty in London on a larger home can easily be £30,000 to £60,000 or more. Add estate agent fees, legal fees, survey costs, removal costs, and the cost of getting the new home to the standard you want.
You can stay during works. For many extensions and loft conversions, it's possible to remain in the property during construction with a good contractor.
The Case for Moving
The property genuinely can't deliver what you need. Some homes cannot realistically be extended to the size you need, whether because of planning constraints, the layout of the existing building, or the garden space available.
You've outgrown the neighbourhood. Schools, commute, proximity to family — if the area no longer suits your life, an extension won't fix that.
The extension would over-capitalise the property. In some streets, spending extensively on works can take the property above the ceiling value for that road.
The Real Cost of Moving in London
Stamp Duty Land Tax on a £900,000 purchase is approximately £38,750. On £1.2m it rises to £73,750. Add estate agent fees (typically 1–1.5% of sale price plus VAT), conveyancing and legal fees, survey costs, removal and storage costs, and renovation at the new property. A house move in London can easily cost £80,000 to £120,000 in transaction costs alone, before you touch the new house.
Questions to Ask Before You Decide
What would the space actually look like? Commission a concept study from an architect before committing. It tells you whether the extension you're imagining is buildable and what you'd actually get.
What does the market say? Ask a local estate agent what your extended home would be worth versus what a comparable larger home would cost to buy. The gap is one of the most useful numbers you can get.
What is your disruption tolerance? Some families find living through a build manageable; others find it miserable. Be honest with yourself.
Making the Decision
The homeowners who most regret not extending are those who moved primarily because they assumed extending was too expensive or too disruptive — only to discover that the move cost more, took longer, and left them in a house they liked less.
At RCB Design & Build, we help London homeowners understand what's genuinely achievable with their property before committing to anything.
07359 872594 | contact@rcbgroup.co.uk | www.rcbgroup.co.uk