Where to go when you move out for building works?

[Chirpie]

Hi there- we have a toddler and need to move out of our house for 2 weeks for building works. We need to stay in the area for childcare. Just wondering if anyone has any bright ideas about what we might do? Lots of short term rentals are for a minimum Of a month. Thanks!

[Pickle]

From our experience, 2 weeks will end up being a month, so it might give you a buffer if you opt for a rental property for a month?

We visited my family (in NZ, so quite extreme!) when we had building works done, and I stayed there with my then preschoolers for 6 weeks while our 6 week build went on in London. We then lived in our house/building site with no kitchen for a further 6 weeks. Not fun! If we had been able to move into another house I would have done it, if only to have a shower and come out feeling clean rather than dusty!

Another option is to advertise as a house sitter, or ask if any local families are going away for the weeks you need.

Good luck.

[davidq100]

Agree 100% with Pickle - assume 4 weeks. We just spend the best (worst) part of a year living out of the house while it was being refurbished. Originally expected to be out for 4 months :)

We moved back in as soon as we could but had a dreadful month or so living in a building site - a world of dust. That was without kids so I imagine the pain would be compounded with the 3 of you.

For what it's worth, we ended up as nomads, circulating between staying with friends, relatives outside of London at weekends and various low cost hotels during week days (we found that Jury's in East Croydon was a good, cheap base). If we did it again (never!) then we'd defintely rent a place. The cost outweighs the pain. I remember there were some quite nice-looking 'whole house' options locally on air bnb

[oimissus]

slightly unrelated, but please make sure you leave your contact details with all neighbours that will be affected by the building work - our neighbours buggered off for months leaving us no way to get in touch with them, which was awkward to say the least...!

[Mellors]

We did a short term rental locally with our three kids. Pricey, but we factored it into the cost of the works, and was worth every penny. Ours lasted four months though.

[Chirpie]

Thanks everyone. The build has already taken a year and we have been luckily enough to not have to live in it so really really hoping there are no more delays!