If you’re a homeowner, then there is a strong chance that you’ve mulled over your options regarding any renovations and/or improvements that you could make to your home and researched just how much they might cost.
Whilst it’s likely you’ll assume that these improvements would always add to a property's value, not all changes are as profitable as you may think, and some renovations could even negatively impact your home’s price tag.
Measuring against the average property value in the UK (£225,621), GoCompare Home Insurance set out to discover the average cost of some of the most common home improvements and how they could affect a home’s value once completed.
According to their research, the most profitable upgrade to a home is installing a brand-new boiler. Although this may set you back by £1,995, it is estimated that this could increase the home's value by £9,024, which is a huge profit of £7,029.
Costing a considerable amount more but adding the same amount to a home's value is central heating. Installing a new system will add £9,024 to the property’s price tag, but it will cost you approximately £4,250.
In third place for most profitable improvements, knocking through rooms was found to cost an average of £1,750, and lead to an increase in value by £4,512.
Surprisingly, installing solar panels was shown to have the largest negative impact on a home's value. Costing energy-conscious homeowners an average of £5,000 whilst knocking £4,512 off the overall property value. Whilst you may recoup some of these losses in the savings on your power bills, it seems that not everyone is a fan.
Henry Pryor, a property buyer who conducted the research, offered his advice on the best way to approach improving your home, “Most buyers prefer to pay for the opportunity to be able to add an attic conversion, kitchen extension or convert a basement. Getting planning permission to do the work is frequently the best investment you can make leaving the actual choice of layout, decoration and equipment to the next owner.”
“Improving the green credentials of a house usually pays, such as a new boiler, insulation or energy saving measures along with security improvements will usually pay off but some additions like solar panels will be hard to get a payback on immediately”.
