The statistics from the Land Registry showed that all regions in England and Wales saw a decline in the average value of a property over the past 12 months. The region with the most significant fall was the north-east, where property prices plummeted by 15.9 per cent.
However, Luton experienced the biggest annual price fall of 23 per cent. In contrast, houses in London saw a two per cent value increase, bringing the average property price up to £301,859, the survey found.
Completed house sales fell by 42 per cent between this April and the same month last year. As such, homeowners who intend to put their property on the market may want to carry out some DIY or invest in large improvement ventures to boost the value.
Chris Radford, chief executive officer of aap - the UK's biggest buyer of endowment policies - said some of its customers had sold their endowments to cover the cost of big lifestyle changes, such as adding an extension or doing up a property.
Obtaining cash through endowment selling could be required. Adding a conservatory to a property can cost Britons around £20,000. However, homeowners have been advised not to try and carry out this project on the cheap.
Jason Orme, editor of Homebuilding & Renovating Magazine, said money should be put towards properly planning a conservatory, making sure it is well designed and that is tailored to fit in with a home.
"It is often the case that a cheap bolt-on added on to a lovely country house would not add any value at all and probably would take it away. But a really well-designed individual conservatory added on to any kind of house will add value," he stated.
The average cost of an extension is £19,922, although over £25,000 could be added to the value of a property, Halifax's latest Home Improvement Survey revealed.
Money for an extension could come from selling, rather than surrendering, an endowment. Mr Radford said that if aap decides to make an offer to buy an underperforming endowment, it will always pay more than the surrender value provided by the insurance company.
Ensuring a conservatory and the rest of a property is as energy efficient as possible could not only lower energy bills, but make a home more attractive.
The Halifax Home Improvement Survey discovered that fuel-saving and energy efficiency measures are the most popular home improvements and individuals think they can get the best value out of them.
While installing solar panels, replacing an old boiler with a greener condensing one, lagging pipes and insulating walls may all cost money, Mr Radford said some of aap's customers had sold their underachieving endowment policies to cover such needs.
Indeed, over the past 12 months, the average amount that Britons have spent on property improvements is £5,344, the Halifax study showed. The typical value individuals think DIY adds to their home is £6,466, representing an average return on investment of 120 per cent.
To make a home more appealing to potential buyers, people may have looked at adding an extension, fitting a new kitchen or making a home more environmentally friendly.
Homeowners who have already considered surrendering an unwanted endowment policy to raise money may not have realised that selling is another option available to them.
And if an endowment is sold through a secondary market maker such as aap, people could find they receive more cash then they would have got from the surrender value, if the company makes an offer to buy their policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment