I think you need to decide on the eventual layout even if you don’t do most of it for four years.
Please post the full plan including upstairs and your expectations for ideas from the forum and perhaps you can get some ideas for the whole plan

Yes, a layout of all floors would help. And how is your plot situated (perhaps a google earth screenshot)? Because I see your family room also has french doors.

I think in any case it would be a good idea to create a more squared space, kind of open plan, even if you don't do the extension to the side in the future. The problem is that the toilet and kitchen are just in the middle. The area at the end (conservatory) is separate from the rest by that those two spaces and I assume it is not very practical. I would put the kitchen and the toilet either on the left hand side of the house or at the very end, where the conservatory is.

Also, I would enclose the staircase, even if it means to reduce the size of the dining room. Anyway, once you change the layout, BC will not allow you to have the kitchen connected to the staircase because of fire regs.

Hope it helps.

Will extension part 2 involve moving the staircase?

Better prepare for the whole build and chop it into two or more projects, so you know where the beds and baths would go, for plumbing, staircase, loadbearing, et.

Also because 330cm isn't a whole lot to make a spacious kitchen diner island etc.

(lenghtwise:330w-60c-100a-90i=80a) (sideways:330w-90a-90a=150i)

If your budget allows it then move the staircase at the same time, having in mind the future extension, although it all will depend on the first floor layout. Maybe there are not so many possibilities upstairs. Also, the staircase has to be connected directly to the entrance and front door, it cannot be opened to the kitchen, due to fire risk.

Amazing thank you! I love this last layout! I think you’re all right, I think maybe we won’t do any renovations until we can afford to do it all. Upstairs layout is ok, the only issue being that the top of the stairs sort of end right outside the entrance to one of the rooms. Not sure that makes sense! I will post a floor plan of upstairs anyway. The rooms upstairs are fairly big. The bathroom will get done eventually but it’s not a priority as it isn’t too bad!

Possible layout with extension

Possible tweak amongst others for upstairs:-

However, before moving just the doors, remember that you have a room downstairs at the back that's extended. I'd consider extending over the top of that to make four bedrooms.

One possible scenario might be something like this:-

There are lots of possibilities with the house, so it may well be worth making an appointment with a Concept Planner.........there are lots on here. They can help you come up with a long term plan that will work. By spending a few hundred pounds now and getting the plan right, it will probably save you hundreds in the future by cutting out costly mistakes and having to do things twice.

I agree with the above comments and think that a good plan of what you want to achieve in the long run and splitting it down into 2 separate projects is a very good idea. Maybe worth looking into hiding the stairs if you don't have the budget to move them. I've seen some very clever concepts with having them in a built in joinery cupboard and access them through a door.

Thanks everyone, think we will be definitely be doing the stairs and downstairs extension first and then it may just be a case of waiting to get the rooms done as and when we can afford it. As long as we have the shell in place. We will try and do some of it ourselves as well to save some cash. My husband and his friend can do the footings etc

Where are you planning moving the stairs?

I won’t be moving the stairs, the plan is to put in a new staircase that turns 180 degrees so the bottom of the staircase will be in the hallway. Like the attached photo...

Isn’t that going to take 3’ off one of the bedrooms above?

So essentially you're doing this upstairs?

Why not simply do this?

Rinq is right, why move stairs, very disruptive. It's far easier to move the stud walls, plus you don't spoil the storage and therefore the potential for an En-Suite in the future.

Also, you would be moving the bottom of the stairs nearer to the Chimney stack and changing the fact that the stack is central across the wall.

If you want to move the stairs, move them over to the left of the house and utilise the narrow sitting room. Move the boiler to the kitchen or Utility. You then leave the upstairs as a blank canvas for a future En-Suite or to extend over the existing kitchen.

Plus you get a larger family room.

I think moving the stairs will cost the nearly same as reworking them at the bottom. MATHS wife is right that you need a plan that doesn’t just create a new problem when sorting the first one.
How much room is available to extend to the side? Personally I think this should be where you are looking to extend for several reasons- wide houses have more presence and are worth more. It would be easy to have extra bedrooms near the end of the upstairs landing- it’s not so easy to build bedrooms at the back beyond your current master bedroom. And if there are no doors on the side you are probably not using the space at the side but you do benefit from the rear garden so it’s a shame to make that smaller.

One possibility without extending

Extending is expensive too. So is removing loadbearing walls. Don't be scared of the cost of moving a staircase that's in the wrong position (I wonder, is it really?), as it will benefit your future plans.

Perhaps even move the kitchen-dining to the sitting room and make the old kitchen a utility. Even though there would be quite a few door in your living room.. And do you really need a family room ànd living room? Concept planning might be your answer. Spend some money on good plans, chop them up into projects and create the best of this house. This will mean working with the bones of the house. If it's not ideal for you, this might not be THE house. If everything else is right (location, garden, etc), some concessions might be required. ;)