You want your home’s value to stay the same or grow if you own one. While the majority of homeowners concentrate on ways to raise a property’s value, they frequently overlook factors that can decrease a home’s value.

We all have our own preferences, but let’s face it: some people have distinctive tastes. It takes some effort and a sense of classic style to attain it. Your house price may be impacted, for instance, if you decorated your kitchen in the early 2000s and it still appears to have been done thus.

Small things like a missing roof tile or a crack in your home’s foundation may become apparent over time. Despite the temptation to overlook these issues, it is always preferable to address them right away. Estate agents will take into account these elements in their official pricing and will give the buyer any information they learn.

We know home improvements can be expensive but we have some upgrade ideas most likely to recoup the investment. 

Painting can provide a dramatic effect with little investment. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to upgrade your home and something you can do yourself.

Update your kitchen. This doesn’t need to stretch into thousands of pounds either. If your cabinets are in good condition you may only need to replace the worktop. Maybe you’ve gone off the style or colour, if the cabinet carcass is ok can you just replace the doors/drawer fronts. Maybe you just want a change, could you add/replace splashbacks to update the look. 

Similarly to the kitchen, does the bathroom need a refresh. Do you need to replace the whole thing or could you change fixtures and tiles to give it a whole new look. 

Mortgage arrangement fee: Expect to pay your lender an arrangement fee. In some cases, this can also be non-refundable if the purchase falls through.

Valuation Fee: Another lender charge, to check that the property exists and the property offers enough security against the loan amount. The cost can vary depending on the purchase price and lender.

Legal Fees: Some lenders will help with legal fees if you use their approved solicitor. You can shop around and find your own conveyancing solicitor.

Stamp Duty: If the property is more than £125,000 then you will pay to Stamp Duty Land Tax on its purchase price.

Surveys: These are a costly aspect of any purchase and many people pay for surveys on purchases that fall through so budget for extras just in case.

Removal Costs: Factor in the costs of a removal van. Just a few hundred pounds for a small local move to at least £1000 for a whole family’s lifetime possessions.

Designing and updating the inside of your home is of particular importance to your home and its value. It presents an excellent opportunity to maximise space, create spaces suitable for different functions, and create features that make everybody who sees it go “wow”. It also helps you to create the atmosphere you desire within your home.

When you decide upon the style of your home should be part of the decision process. Most modern styles rely upon abundant space and light, so not cluttering, and rooflights play an important role in any contemporary interior design. When designing a Spartan-like design theme for your home, you must focus upon the little details of your home; otherwise, you end up with empty space without any character or appeal. For a more rustic charm, using wood and deep colours is an option for developing your interior design.

The answer to this is yes and no! Solar panels do not work at night; however, you can store the energy you have generated throughout the day into the battery pack. This will enable you to continue having power when there is no sunlight.

Solar panels are made up of photovoltaic cells which convert sunlight into electricity. They need at least a small amount of sunlight to work. Although the moon does provide some light on cloudless nights, this kind of light cannot be used by solar panels.

As you cannot rely on energy from your solar panel at night, you have two options. Store any excess energy generated throughout the day or purchase your electricity from the national grid.

For those who wish to know if there are any solar panel available that work at night, a research team in Mexico have been working on creating a solution. They say they are close, but they will not be available commercially for a while yet.

The cottagecore is an aesthetic trend that has been around for many years but grew in popularity in 2020 due to the increase in home baking and self-sufficiency during Covid.  The trend has continued to sweep social media into 2021. 

The cottagecore trend reflects a need for comfort and cosiness with a touch of British elegance and is centred around simple living and harmony with nature. This is seen in the nature-inspired prints, gold accessories and ornaments that are added to the home.

This homely look is perfect for places with character, whether it’s a period property or a country cottage. The style is enhanced by traditional touches, such as parquet flooring, exposed beams and bare brick. Style with a mix of vintage and new home buys to add charm.

Cottagecore has been linked to grandparentcore which brings about the nostalgic feeling of what living would have been like when your grandparents were younger. 

Summer is here, so why not add a few touches to your home to add a little something to the décor.  Here are five summer decorating ideas for you to enjoy.

Do you have a wide-necked vase where the flowers always seem to fall to the side?  Add pebbles to the bottom of the vase and push the flower stems into it.

Does your armchair have removable legs?  Why not change them up for some clear ones or a different colour.  Can make your armchair look different with this one simple step.

Switch your cushions from one room with another.  This simple tip can freshen up a room instantly.

Do you have an old piece of furniture that doesn’t seem to sit right within the room?  Paint it!  Add a touch of colour or a new neutral look with a coat of paint to bring the furniture to life.

Decorate a room with books.  Stack them everywhere for an intellectual, vintage look.

Housing prices have been increasing since earlier this year with the government committed to supporting the housing market. The Budget announcement saw two elements of change to help increase housing market activity levels. The first was that the Stamp Duty holiday will be continuing, until June for purchases up to £500,000 and the end of September for those up to £250,000. After this, the thresholds will resume to pre-pandemic levels. This will hopefully continue to provide relief for home buyers, for a bit longer, than the previous March Deadline.

Additionally, the lender guarantee scheme of 95% was brought in to help provide a boost to the mortgage market. This scheme seems very similar to the Help to Buy Mortgage scheme that was used back in 2013 and 2017. Hopefully these two programs, endorsed by the UK government, will help provide the stimulus needed in bringing the housing market back out of the pandemic slump.

Home/Property owners are often considering ways in which they could add property value to their home. There are quite a few options out there, but these are the most common 5 ways:

1. Garage Conversion- you can convert your garage into additional living space to raise value by a possible 15%

2. Loft Conversion- turning your loft into extra living space, for a possible 15-20%

3. Splitting a house into flats- in areas where flats are in high demand this is an excellent way to maximise rental income or possibly raise property value by 30%

4. Cellar conversion- upgrading your cellar into extra living or storage space can bump property value by 30%

5. Kitchen Extension- creating a kitchen extension, possibly by a side return may increase value by 15%

All of these options are incredible ways to increase your property value or rental income. Most of these options also typically do not involve planning permissions, dependent on the extent of the work you want done.

If you are considering looking into a Home Equity Loan, it is good to learn as much as you can about it first and do your research. Home Equity Loans are for borrowing money against the ‘equity’ of your home without requiring that you sell your house. Equity is the difference between the saleable value of your home and the home loan you have against it.

For example, say your property is valued at £150,000 and you have £50,000 remaining to pay on your mortgage, the equity is £100,000. If your home is paid off, then the equity would be £150,000. So, equity is basically what has already been paid for the property.

Home equity loans, are also known as a homeowner loan, it is secured against the value of your home and often used to consolidate debts or buy a car. An alternative is home mortgage refinancing, where you usually increase you mortgage, taking all or some of the extra borrowed cash. Be very cautious when securing additional debt against your home as it could be repossessed if you do not keep up the payments.