ᐅ Enlarge and completely renovate a single-family home, or demolish and rebuild?

Hello everyone,

Here is the situation:

We have the opportunity to buy a plot of land (600 sqm (approximately 6458 sqft)) with a house from the 1960s that offers 105 sqm (approximately 1130 sqft) of living space over two floors for 150,000 €. The value of the land alone (land reference value) is 130,000 €.

For us, however, the house is too small. We would like to undertake the following measures (the development plan allows all of these):

1. Extend the house by 3 meters (about 10 feet) to the rear and 3 meters (about 10 feet) to the side.

2. Add extra floors.

3. Install a new roof.

4. Replace the exterior facade.

5. Complete interior refurbishment.

In other words: we basically want to redo everything.

Would this be financially worthwhile, or would demolition and rebuilding make more sense? Are there any tips regarding funding options (KfW programs) or similar?

Please excuse me, as I am (still) a complete beginner. I understand that it is impossible to predict costs here, but maybe there are people who have undertaken a similar project 🙂

I would appreciate any information.

That is not cost-effective. A new build is most likely the far more economical option.

seref89 schrieb:

1. Extend the house 3 meters (10 feet) to the rear and 3 meters (10 feet) to the side.

You can’t simply widen a house by 3 meters (10 feet). The existing walls must remain.
At most, this would be an extension.

seref89 schrieb:

2. Increase the number of floors.

Anything above the floor being raised has to be removed. Basically, this means a rebuild.

seref89 schrieb:

Could this be cost-effective, or would demolition and rebuilding make more sense?

Since you don’t really want to keep anything, demolition and rebuilding is clearly the simpler option.

seref89 schrieb:

But maybe there are people who have undertaken a similar project

Several, just in this forum. However, more specific details would definitely be necessary, especially since the 1960s cover three decades in terms of construction technology. Please provide the exact year of construction, share photos, current and planned floor plans, and also a section drawing.

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I am renovating an older house, built in 1914, which last had work done around the 1960s (electrical wiring, plumbing, and the heating system was updated again in the early 1980s). Except for the walls and the roof—which was repaired in 2010 due to an insurance claim—everything is being redone.

The costs are comparable to those of a new build of similar size, around 3000€/m2 (approximately 280 USD/ft2).

If the house were not under heritage protection, demolition and rebuilding would be the logical choice! Especially since this would eliminate the need to make compromises in the layout and orientation.

seref89 schrieb:

In other words: We feel like we want to redo everything.

Then you should go for it – demolition and new construction. For a full renovation, I would recommend preserving the existing structure. But with extensions and such, it will probably end up more expensive than building new.