Adding value to your home

ADDING VALUE TO YOUR HOME
Most people think that adding value to your home means a total renovation project
to make a ‘show home’ that will have people falling over themselves
to buy off you!!! You’ll be glad to hear that this isn’t the case
at all. There are a number of things that you could do to add value to your
house – most importantly, simply!

Think about Adding an Extension to your House
Is your home getting too small? With a growing family or live-in relatives,
you just don’t have enough space. You’ve considered moving but don’t want the
upheaval or cost involved. Simply put, you don’t have the money to ‘upsize’,
you love your existing home and its quirks, you love your neighbourhood and
you’d like to stay exactly where you are!

Move vs. Extend: The Benefits of a House Extension
Whether you have an expanding family, you work from home and could do with a
study, you fancy a home gym or you’re just a bit of a hoarder, it is easy to
find yourself in a position where lack of space is an increasingly important
issue in your life. It’s a case of finding somewhere larger (this is not
in your budget) or creating more space in your existing house (can I afford
it?). You’ll be pleased to hear that not only is having an extension less
stressful, it’s invariably the more affordable option too!

Moreover, you can maintain the comforts of your current lifestyle and living
environment, albeit a little noisy and dusty for the duration of the build,
whilst providing some of that extra space you so badly need. To top it all off,
your investment in the build will almost certainly be reflected in the value
of the house. Think of the difference in price of a 2 bedroom house as opposed
to a 3 bedroom house, or a house advertised with a ‘home gym’…
you get my drift.

You Might Not Need Planning Permission for Your Extensions/Alterations
‘Surely not?’ I hear you say – well this little nugget of
information could be very valuable to you.

Changes to Planning Laws have meant that Planning permission is no longer required
for the majority of household extensions or alterations! This is known as ‘Permitted
Development
’. Examples of such extensions or alterations include loft
conversions, porches, rear extensions to make a family sized kitchen and even
outbuildings. However, this doesn’t mean that you can just go ahead and
build your extension or make alterations – there are certain strict constraints
and you still have to apply to the council for a Certificate of Lawfulness,
which proves that your proposal does not need traditional planning permission.
You will also have to get Building
Regulations
approval to ensure that your extension is structurally sound.

Unfortunately, these rights only apply to houses – so if you live in a
flat or maisonette, a Listed Building, a World Heritage Site, Conservation Area,
National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Norfolk or Suffolk
Broads sadly they do not apply. It’s likely that you will need planning
permission to make any alterations or build an extension.

The Most Common House Extensions/Alterations to Add Value:

Kitchens: are increasingly becoming the most ‘deal breaking’
consideration of a house sale. In the modern house the kitchen is the heart
of the home, rendering the ‘family sized kitchen’ as all important. Whether
it’s a large extension to achieve a kitchen worthy of an average sized family
or a simple refit or refurb, you can be sure that whatever work you do to the
kitchen will improve the value of your house.

Loft conversions: utilise useable loft space in your house.
The average house has approximately 40m³ of ‘wasted’ space which could
be converted to create extra living space, a master bedroom complete with en-suite
or perhaps a couple of extra bedrooms for your growing family. Think of the
value you could to your house with an extra couple of bedrooms!!

Porch: Benefits include enhanced kerb appeal, added security
(if you have an enclosed one), less heat loss in winter and most importantly
adding value to your home.

Outbuildings: Perhaps you fancied a Garden Room, a Home Gym,
a Home Office or even a Granny Annex. For that little bit of extra space.
If you are thinking about building an extension to add value to your home,
My Plans Permitted
would love to help you – you might just be surprised
at what you can do!

This is a guest article written by Harriet of My Plans Permitted.

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