London’s property prices have not made especially pleasant reading in reading months – especially for those who are interesting in making a sale in the capital sometime soon. Recent housing reports indicate that prices have seen a decrease in growth ever since a peak in 2017, although prices remain well above their value during the financial crash of 2008.
Nevertheless, if you are looking to make a property sale in London over the coming year, you will want to maximise your value in a market this stalling. So, you may need to take matters into your own hands and find a new way to increase your property’s worth. Here we take a look at some of the best ways that you can increase the value of a home in London right now.
Make your garage usable
Undoubtedly one of the most valuable things that a property in London can offer a prospective buyer is a place to park. Parking comes at a real premium throughout the city, so having any kind of off-road parking available is hugely sought-after. And the fact is that many London properties do have this kind of space available – it is just being badly used at the moment.
If you have a garage that is currently being used for storage, then now is the time to think about clearing it out, doing it up, and making it usable again. It may be the case that your garage door is broken (although you would be surprised just how often the fix is something very simple) or you might have simply got into the habit of using your garage door to store junk. Either way, the cost of fixing or even replacing a garage door, and clearing out anything from inside, is relatively low. But it can add a huge amount of value onto a home.
Improve the kitchen
If you only have the budget or the time to make changes to one room in the house then you should definitely prioritise the kitchen. A full kitchen renovation can be very costly and time consuming, but you might be shocked at how easily you can upgrade your kitchen or make small changes that actually add up to a big difference.
New buyers look at kitchens as the most important area of the home – it is the focal point of the house after all. If you can make simple cosmetic changes and make the area more appealing it can seriously improve the value of your home. This could involve anything such as re-doing the tiling, or even painting.
Consider a loft conversion
One important way you can add value to a home is to increase the number of bedrooms. And while getting planning permission for an extension in London can be very tricky, it is generally much more possible to extend your home upwards but investing in a loft conversion. Loft conversions are generally far cheaper and more efficient than building a new part of the home.
It has been suggested that adding a loft conversion to a property could add around 24.5 per cent to the value of the home in London. And then consider that the cost of a conversion could be between £30,000 and £40,000 – this makes it easy for you to work out whether this would be a cost-effective change to your property.
Make your home into a blank canvas
When you are selling a home you essentially want to have the kitchens and bathroom looking amazing, and somewhere that the family would want to live – but the rest of the house needs to look more like a blank canvas. When people move into a new home, they want to have the freedom to change it up to their needs and requirements.
If your home is currently decorated or arranged in a very specific style, then it could be worth simplifying things for viewings. You might be surprised at the difference that it can make – many prospective homeowners are easily put off by even small details that are completely fixable. Perceived bad taste can take around 10 per cent off of the value of your home, and as this is just perception, it’s important to keep things as neutral as you can.