The Post-Christmas Realisation

The house feels smaller after Christmas. Not literally, obviously, but somehow the walls seem closer together than they did in November. The presents have been unwrapped. The relatives have gone home. And you are left with the memory of how cramped things felt when everyone was here.

Maybe it was trying to seat fourteen people in a dining room designed for six. Maybe it was children with nowhere to play except underfoot. Maybe it was that awkward moment when someone wanted quiet and there was not a single room free.

January is when many homeowners decide they need more space. The timing is not coincidental. The festive period stress-tests our homes in ways ordinary life does not. And if your home failed that test, January is when you know it.

According to Aviva’s 2025 How We Live report, almost seven million UK homeowners plan to renovate their homes, with an average intended spend of over £14,000 over the next two years. Renovation plans are particularly popular among younger age groups, with 73% of Generation Z and 65% of Millennial homeowners planning work.

What happens next matters. Some people vow to do something about it, then let the momentum fade as February passes and normal routines reassert themselves. By summer, the resolution is forgotten. By next Christmas, the same cramped scene plays out again.

Others act. January becomes the start of a planning process that leads to a completed extension before the next festive season arrives.

The 2026 Home Improvement Landscape

Before we discuss timelines and planning, let us understand the context. The UK home improvement market is substantial and growing.

The UK home improvement market was valued at £11.3 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach £16.67 billion by 2033. That is a 48% increase in nine years, reflecting sustained demand for better living spaces.

The 2025 UK Houzz & Home Study provides more detail. More than half of homeowners (51%) renovated in 2024, up from 48% in 2023. The median spend increased 26% year-on-year to £21,440. The top 10% of renovating homeowners spent £169,000.

What’s Driving This Demand?

The pattern is clear: homeowners who need more space are choosing to create it rather than search for it elsewhere.

The January Advantage: Why Timing Matters

Starting your planning in January offers several practical advantages that people often overlook.

Design Time Without Pressure

Good design takes time. Ideas need to develop. Options need to be compared. Decisions need to be made carefully rather than hastily. Starting in January gives you the luxury of that time.

By contrast, people who start thinking about extensions in April or May often find themselves rushing through design stages to catch the summer building season, then either accepting compromises or pushing the project into the following year anyway.

Planning Permission Timelines

If your extension requires planning permission, the process typically takes eight to twelve weeks from submission to decision. For properties in conservation areas or those that are listed, it often takes longer. The Planning Portal provides detailed guidance on requirements.

Historic England data shows that only 71% of Listed Building Consent decisions were made within the statutory timeframe in 2022/23, compared to 81% for standard planning decisions. Heritage applications take longer.

Starting in January means you can have permissions in place by spring, ready for construction during the better weather months. For detailed guidance on what you can build without planning permission, see our comprehensive guide to permitted development.

Builder and Installer Availability

Quality builders and installers get booked up. This is simply a fact of the construction industry. Companies with strong reputations and reliable workforces plan their schedules months in advance.

Approaching builders in January for a summer installation gives them (and you) options. Approaching the same builders in May for a summer installation may find them already committed through to autumn.

Budget Planning and Financing

January is traditionally when people review their finances. If your extension will require financing, early planning gives you time to explore options, compare rates, and make arrangements without time pressure.

Four-fifths of UK households plan to use their savings to fund home improvement projects. If you are among them, January is when you can assess what you have available and what you might need to save in the coming months.

For projects requiring planning permission, add eight to twelve weeks to the front end. For listed buildings or conservation areas, potentially more.

The point is clear: if you want to enjoy a new extension next Christmas, the time to start planning is now, not next spring.

The Budget Conversation: What Extensions Actually Cost

New Year is the traditional time for financial stocktaking. How much can we afford? What does an extension actually cost? Is this the right year to commit?

The honest answer is that costs vary significantly depending on specification, size, and complexity.

In 2023, homeowners budgeted an average of £27,157 for extensions, the highest intended spend of any home improvement category. For detailed guidance on orangery investment levels and what different budgets deliver, see our comprehensive orangery guide.

What matters more than the absolute number is value: what you get for your investment, how it affects your daily life, what it adds to your property.

The Return on Investment Question

Let us talk about what the data shows regarding home improvement returns.

According to Zopa’s Home Improvement Index, conservatories delivered approximately 100% ROI in 2024, meaning homeowners typically recoup the full cost in added property value. Nationwide’s 2023 analysis found that a well-done extension can nearly increase a home’s value proportionately to the floor area added.

The calculation is not purely financial, though. Consider:

• How many years will you enjoy the space before selling?
• What is the value of the daily quality of life improvement?
• What would it cost to move to a larger property instead?

For many homeowners, the answer is clear: extending makes more sense than moving, both financially and practically.

Making 2026 Different: The Action Steps

Resolutions fade. We all know this. The gym membership purchased in January goes unused by March. The diet abandoned after two weeks. The promise to learn a language quietly forgotten.

Home improvement resolutions can go the same way, but they do not have to. The difference lies in taking concrete action rather than remaining in the realm of intention.

You do not have to commit to anything by having that first conversation. But without it, next January will likely find you in the same position, looking at the same cramped rooms, making the same resolution for the following year.

Next Christmas Could Be Different

Think forward twelve months. Christmas 2026. The family has gathered again. But this time, there is space. There is light. There is a room that works for the occasion rather than against it.

The children have somewhere to play. The adults have somewhere to talk. The cook has somewhere to work without feeling isolated. The view through the glass shows the winter garden, perhaps strung with lights, perhaps frosted, perhaps simply beautiful in its December bare-bones honesty.

That future is available. It starts with a decision made in January, while the memory of cramped Christmas past is still fresh.

At Room Outside, we are ready to have those conversations whenever you are. We understand that January is a time for thinking and planning rather than rushing into decisions. We will give you the information you need to decide whether an extension is right for you, and if so, what kind of extension and at what investment level.

Next Christmas could be different. The choice is yours, and it starts with a conversation.