While many homeowners choose to up sticks and move when they want to upgrade or upsize the property they live in, huge numbers are choosing instead to renovate their existing homes – but upgrades can be costly and not all will add value to your property.
Over the past five years, homeowners across the UK have invested £41bn on home improvements, according to NAEA Propertymark, with 73% of all property owners saying they had carried out some form of renovation.
Meanwhile, in the buy-to-let market, there has been an increase in the number of landlords remortgaging in order to carry out improvements on their properties. A study from Countrywide found that 9,523 landlords who remortgaged had renovated their rentals, which is triple the number that did so in 2016.
What this means is that many people are deeming it better value for money to improve than move, but there are pitfalls to be aware of, and it is vital to know just how much your renovations will add to the value of your property to decide if they are worth it.
Canopies UK has gathered data on the average impact certain upgrades have on home values, using data from sources including Nationwide and property expert Phil Spencer, and has found that one of the best ways a property can be improved to push up its value is through increasing floor space. Nationwide figures suggest that an increase of 10% in floor space can push up the value of a home by an average of 5%.
The best ways homeowners and landlords can add value
- On the subject of floor space, one of the most effective additions to a property is through a cellar conversion, which, while expensive at the outset, can add more than 30% onto a home’s value through the additional living space created.
- Parking comes at a premium in many areas, particularly as more homes are being developed in crowded areas and cities to ease the housing shortage. Canopies’ study found that investing in extra parking adds an average of £50,000 to the property price.
- Extensions and loft conversions have always been a popular way of adding extra space, especially for growing families who do not want to move house, and this can add an average of 14% to the home’s value.
- Conversions aside, increasing a property’s size in any way to add a further bedroom will gain the owner an average of 11%, and this is likely to be a popular option among landlords who want to maximise their rental returns or even turn their property into an HMO.
- Gaining planning permission has become easier, according to research from Everest, as the government continues to tackle the housing crisis, and it can increase property prices by an average of 10% or more.
