Investment choices for extenders and improvers

The prospect of a slowdown in the housing market in the year ahead may leave many homeowners choosing to extend and improve, rather than move.

Financial website, Fool.co.uk, has produced a table of home improvements that are also sound investment choices and should make a home more saleable in the future.

Loft conversions come top of the list, with the potential to add 21% to the vale of a house.

According to a study by Nationwide, a loft conversion is the single most valuable alteration you can make to a home.

The overall addition to floor space should be around 300 square feet to provide for an addition bedroom and bathroom.

The average cost of this sort of conversion is slightly over £17,000 but for a house worth £200,000, a loft conversion has the potential to increase the price by £42,000.

Adding a double bedroom will typically raise the value of a home by 12%, but only if the overall floor space has been increased.

Adapting existing accommodation to gain a room can add around 6% and installing central heating uplifts the price of a home by nearer 7%, for a cost of around £5,000.

Creating a parking space is a simple and effective way of adding 6.5% and the addition of a double garage could see the price of a home increase by 14.5%.

Finally, adding an extra bathroom can raise values by around 5.2%.

On the down-side, a recent Halifax report indicates that one in four major home improvement projects run over budget.

New kitchens are notorious for doing just that and it is homeowners’ appreciation of quality fixtures and fittings that create a major source of overspend.

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