In a context of high interest rates, extending your home can be financially attractive. But it all depends on where you live.
Should we push the walls or think bigger? If you feel too cramped in your home, you have two options: move or make an extension. Which is the most economical?
To carry out an extension, it is necessary to live in a house, and very often to have a sufficiently large plot of land. The price for expand your property can vary greatly depending on the materials used (wood, metal or concrete blocks, etc.) and the type of development carried out.
According to the site illico works for an extension fitted out with a wooden frame, the average cost varies between 1,800 and 3,000 euros including tax per m². If it is made of concrete blocks, it will cost between 2,500 and 4,500 euros. Finally, for a metal frame, the price is between 2,500 and 3,000 euros.
The website of the Camif rather suggests a price between 3,000 and 5,000 euros per m², for an extension not yet fitted out, or between 60,000 and 100,000 euros for an additional room of 20 m².
To know if it is more interesting to buy or extend your house, you will need to compare these prices with the purchase price per square meter in your area and for the type of property you are looking for.
No moving or notary fees
In 2021, a survey carried out by Opinionway on a sample of 1,000 home owners indicated that 68% would prefer to opt for an extension rather than a new purchase (if their property became too small after a change in situation such as a birth for example).
Today, with higher interest rates (around 3.5% in October even if they have been falling since June), owners have every interest in assessing the relevance of a new property purchase.
According to the Hexaom group, specializing in construction and renovation, the extension can be an alternative solution to consider “for those who bought a house a few years ago, especially post-covid, at rates between 1 and 2 % and at an often high price due to the attraction for this type of housing with an exterior.
“This makes it possible to avoid taking out a bridging loan, but also a new real estate loan at 3.5%,” praises Loic Vandromme, the company’s general manager.
“It’s also the way to save notary fees, which amount to 8% in old properties, but also to increase the value of your property in the medium term rather than selling it at a time when the market is falling!” , he continues. Not to mention the benefits and savings of not having to move.
Finally, expanding also allows you to sell more expensively. “Carrying out an extension is often a profitable operation because in many regions, the selling price per m² exceeds that of the cost of carrying out the work. These will therefore be amortized upon resale,” argues Loic Vandromme.
What savings for a veranda?
To enlarge your interior, it is also possible to install a veranda. This time, it will cost between 18,000 and 40,000 euros for 20 m², according to the company Akena, specializing in exterior design.
The group even got out the calculator and compared building a conservatory (note that this is one of the cheapest types of extension) to buying a much larger property (looking at the median price per square meter).
Thus, according to the company, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, installing a veranda represents a saving of 64% compared to moving. Still according to Akena’s calculations, in Corsica the saving is 61%, in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes 50% and in Brittany 47%.
It is in Île-de-France that the figure is highest (67%), which can be explained by the level of real estate prices, particularly high in the Paris region. It should also be noted that houses and large lots are rarer there.
But in reality, to be sure to make a good transaction, you have to compare real estate prices in a much more precise way, on the scale of your municipality, or even your neighborhood, rather than on the scale of the region. Because buying in a big city or in a tense area is necessarily more expensive. In all cases, carefully examine the prices of local advertisements for the properties whose type interests you.
Before getting started, you should finally check the administrative authorizations you need. They depend on the desired surface area but also on the local town planning plan (PLU). Thus, if the surface area is less than 20 m², a prior declaration of work is sufficient, while beyond that, it will be necessary to submit a building permit.