CHARLOTTE PERCIVAL looks for homes where you can make the most of the space.

WITH more dependants fleeing the nest only to move back later, homebuyers need more space than ever.

Buying somewhere with the potential to expand, such as a loft or an outside plot is one way of doing it, while updating the space you have is another.

At this bungalow in Primrose Hill, High Catton, there are examples of extensions and conversions all around.

The owners of the house next door have extended into their loft, while those living at the other side have converted their garage into a living room. The property needs modernising, but boasts countryside views over the Vale of York and includes two double bedrooms, a bathroom, a sitting room, a pantry, a coal store, a WC, a garage and gardens to three sides.

It is priced at £175,000 and there is no chain. Contact Chris Clubley.

Meanwhile, Coalters has a three-bedroom detached house in Hull Road with planning permission for a kitchen extension/garden room.

Priced at £219,995, it has two reception rooms with solid oak flooring, a conservatory, a kitchen, full double glazing, off street parking and a spacious rear garden with an elevated decking area.

Next, Reeds Rains has a two-bedroom semi-detached house in Don Avenue, Dringhouses, with a building plot and planning permission to build a new house.

The house includes a lounge with a coal-effect fire, a conservatory, a dining room/study and a kitchen/diner with wall and base units, as well as a low maintenance garden with decorative pebbles and greenery and a patio.

Planning permission, which is included in the price of £187,000, is for a further two- bedroom house and lasts until November 2010.

Perhaps you would prefer a barn conversion.

If so, Naish has one with two bedrooms opposite a protected nature reserve and open fields.

Designed by award-winning architect Andrew Durham, The Stables, in Skelton Lane, Wigginton, incorporates plenty of light and air and features vaulted ceilings, exposed roof trusses and slate flooring.

The property extends to around one third of an acre, with possible potential to extend.

It is priced at £320,000.

Next, Carter Jonas has a traditional stone cottage in Church Street, Nunnington.

Permission has been granted to build a two-storey extension to Ryecroft, which already boasts a living room, a dining room, three bedrooms, a kitchen, rear gardens, a garage, outbuildings, a paddock and three timber stables.

Permission has also been granted to build another three-bedroom cottage on one of the gardens.

Ryecroft is priced at £360,000.

In Dunnington, Redmove has a three bedroom bungalow with large gardens for a possible extension, subject to planning permission.

Located in Garden Flats Lane and priced at £255,000, it includes a conservatory with views over the garden, a sitting room with a feature stone fireplace, a kitchen, a dining room and a bathroom.

There is also solid fuel heating and double glazing.

Meanwhile, in Melrosegate, Bairstow Eves has a three bedroom semi-detached house with planning permission to build a garage on the side. Further to planning consents, it could be changed to enhance the home’s letting potential, as it is in a prime student buy-to-let area.

Inside, there is a dining room which is open plan to the kitchen, a lounge with a bay window, a bathroom and a shower room.

There are also front and rear gardens with lawn and planted beds.

It is priced at £179,950.

Finally, Ashtons has a three bedroom semi-detached in Vernon Road, Rawcliffe.

Built on a corner plot, it could be extended to the side and includes a lounge, a dining room, a kitchen and a garage.

It is priced at £174,950.