How to add space and value to your property

Home improvements have never been so popular – from extending your living area to sprucing up your kitchen. Alexandra Goss looks at what will help you sell (or make you stay)

The space race is back on. A record number of planning permissions for property improvements and extensions were granted last year as homeowners sought the ultimate postpandemic must-have: more room.

A total of 247,500 planning consents were granted in England in the year to September 2021. This is 19pc above the pre-Covid norm and a third higher than the preceding 12 months, according to analysis of the latest government statistics by Savills estate agency.

Last year was also a bumper period for house purchases as Britons moved after re-evaluating their lifestyle priorities, said Lucian Cook of Savills.

“Since the pandemic we have seen a strong correlation between home mover numbers and home extensions and improvements, as more people are buying and then extending a property to better suit their needs,” he said.

Home improvements as a percentage of privately- owned homes were highest in parts of the southeast of England traditionally popular with London relocators. The biggest increase in planning consents, however, was in the north-east, with a 47pc rise in the year to September, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber (45pc).

“With the arrival of widespread home working, and more buyers looking to relocate, increasing numbers are benefitting from the accessibility of markets in the North, allowing more funds to be spent on home improvements and extensions,” Mr Cook said.

Not everyone has moved, though. Thousands of these recent renovators have overhauled their existing homes, including Flora and Adam Etheridge. The couple are nearing the end of major works, which include adding a double-height and a single-height extension onto their 1980s house near Tisbury, Wiltshire, creating a fourth bedroom and fourth bathroom and adding almost 1,000 sq ft of space.

“This was not the period house we’d been looking for, but it was in the perfect location and had the potential to extend,” said Mrs Etheridge, 40, who works for Pink House Mustique, a beachwear shop. “We moved in during the summer of 2019, and lockdown gave us the impetus to start.”

Covid delays mean the works have taken a year, rather than six months, and the Etheridges have spent more than double their initial budget. The couple, who have two daughters, aged 12 and 10, saved money by repurposing the old kitchen units, buying from Facebook Marketplace and eBay and doing as much of the labour as possible. “Although the renovations have been tough going, this is our longterm home and we are so excited to see it finished,” Mrs Etheridge said.

If you’re planning on taking a hammer to your house, build plenty of contingency into your timeline and budget. There is a national shortage of bricklayers and carpenters, while the average lead time for roof tiles is currently 24 weeks, according to the Builders Merchants Federation. The cost of some materials has already almost doubled during the course of the pandemic; rising energy prices mean they are expected to increase by another 10pc or more this year.

Not fazed? Here’s how to win the space race and add value to your home.

EXTEND Checkatrade, the tradespeople website, recommended budgeting £1,250 to £2,500 a square metre for extensions of standard rooms – although loft, kitchen and bathroom extensions cost more. Nevertheless, a well- executed build could add between 5pc and 10pc to the value of your home, according to Marc Schneiderman, of Arlington Residential estate agency.

Basement extensions are typically only done in London and other very expensive markets. The golden rule is to ensure the works cost less than the average price per sq ft in your area. Even then, buyers won’t necessarily value underground space as much as

upper floors, said Jo Eccles, of property buying firm Eccord.

According to Strutt & Parker’s Housing Futures survey, conducted among respondents planning to move within the next five years, the additional rooms people would most like to have in their next home were ensuite bathrooms, a downstairs cloakroom and a utility room. The agency’s Oliver Custance Baker said utility and boot rooms in particular had become more desirable since lockdowns ignited a love of muddy walks. “A property with a top- end utility room could achieve up to 5pc more when sold than a comparable home without one,” he said.

LOOK AT LAYOUT It’s not only size that counts – it’s what you do with it. Homes can be made more valuable by improving the existing layout, such as converting small kitchens and living areas into one large space. Be careful not to turn a useful bedroom into an ensuite as this could harm the value of your home, said Jonathan Rolande of the National Association of Property Buyers.

Adaptable space is now highly sought after. Nick Stockley, of the architectural service resi.co.uk, said this meant having rooms that could function as a home office, a guest bedroom or even a yoga studio. “Ultimately, having a home that can be everything to anyone is going to achieve the most value,” he said.

WORK ON A HOME OFFICE A client of Emma Hanks, of JM Chase Property Search & Acquisition, recently sought planning permission and spent £10,000 on installing a clapboard home office in the garden of his two- bedroom flat in Chiswick, west London. “The installation of the office has added £90,000 to the value,” Ms Hanks said.

Garden rooms are usually classed as outbuildings and come under permitted development rights, if you meet certain criteria, said Darren Leach, of George & James Architects. “These include an eaves height lower than 2.5m and a maximum overall height lower than 4m for a dual-pitched roof or 3m for other roof types,” he said.

The rights do not apply to flats, listed buildings or in conservation areas or national parks. The regulations are complex, so seek professional advice.

SPRUCE UP THE KITCHEN Having a kitchen you love can dramatically improve your quality of life – and your house price, said Sophie Bonsor, of buying agency Aykroyd & Co. “Kitchens can make or break a property,” she said. “You could add a lot of value.”

Dressing up the space with a new worktop, floor and cabinet doors costs £4,000 on average, according to the HomeOwners Alliance, an advice group. In return it could add £17,000 to the value of a London property and £15,000 to one in Cambridgeshire. A fully new kitchen, however, especially if it’s bespoke, can cost tens of thousands.

Anna Benbow and her husband overhauled an existing kitchen extension on their four-bedroom detached Victorian house in Willesden Green, north-west London, to make the space work better for them and their fouryear-old son.

“We added full-height glazed sliding doors onto the garden, which make both the kitchen and garden feel bigger and we can finally benefit from the fact it is south- facing,” said Mrs Benbow, a graphic designer. “We now get sun all day long, which makes such a huge difference.”

The works, which were finished in June 2021, cost 10pc of the value of the house and also included replacing the flat roof with an insulated green roof, adding a utility space and redesigning the kitchen with sleek units by Herringbone Kitchens.

INSTALL ECO FEATURES Given soaring energy prices and the pressing need to cut carbon emissions, the eco credentials of a property have become paramount.

Loft insulation is a cost- effective addition, while draught proofing single- pane sash windows can make a big difference to heat loss, said Cate Statham, of Knight Frank estate agency’s residential building consultancy. Having a low- carbon heating system such as an air source or ground source heat pump before they are set to become mandatory in 2035 can also make your home more attractive to potential buyers.

Retired midwife Margaret Biddle and her husband, John Hughes, went a lot further than this, using savings and money borrowed from family to retrofit their 1970s bungalow near the north Wales coast. The works, designed by Paul Testa, of Sheffield- based Paul Testa Architecture, included adding external wall insulation for £16,000, fitting triple- glazed windows and doors (£20,000), adding solar panels (£12,000), putting in underfloor heating (£10,000 plus installation costs) and replacing the oil boiler with an air source heat pump (£9,000).

“John’s been a vicar for 20 years and we’ve lived in several draughty rectories with high ceilings which were very expensive to heat, very wasteful of energy, and I was still cold,” Ms Biddle said. The couple wanted to be as environmentally responsible as possible and reduce their energy bills, which have halved to £1,200 a year. “We’re in a climate emergency but I also wanted the bungalow to be cosy,” Ms Biddle said.

A deep retrofit of an existing home is not cheap – Mr Testa would expect about £ 1,200 per square metre ( including VAT) to bring a property to EnerPHit standards, the Passivhaus certification for retrofits.

“While it does depend on where you live, it’s unlikely your house will be worth what you’ve spent on it, and the payback in bills is not short-term, either,” he said. “However, I have retrofitted my house, and my family and I now have a beautifully comfortable home, with excellent air quality and low running costs. That feels like an excellent investment.”