SHOULD YOU MOVE OR IMPROVE YOUR HOME? WEIGHING THE PROS AND CONS

Deciding whether to move to a new home or invest in improving your current one is a significant decision that involves various considerations. Both options come with their own set of advantages, disadvantages, and costs. 

Here’s a comprehensive look at the factors to consider when deciding whether to move or improve.

MOVING TO A NEW HOME

ADVANTAGES

• New Opportunities: Moving to a new home can offer access to better job prospects, schools, amenities, and an overall improved quality of life. If your current area no longer meets your needs, relocating can provide a fresh start.

• Better Fit: A new home can be tailored to your current lifestyle and future needs. Whether it’s more space for a growing family, a different layout, or a location closer to work, a new home can offer features that your current home cannot.

• Modern Amenities: New homes often come with modern features and energy-efficient systems, reducing future maintenance costs and utility bills. This can lead to a more comfortable and cost-effective living environment.

• Investment Potential: Moving to an area with rising property values can be a smart investment, potentially increasing your home's value over time.

DISADVANTAGES

• High Costs: Moving involves significant expenses, including estate agent fees, legal fees, stamp duty (in the UK), removal costs, and potential renovations to prepare your home for sale. These costs can quickly add up, often reaching tens of thousands of pounds.

• Emotional Stress: Leaving a familiar environment, neighbours, and routines can be emotionally taxing. Adjusting to a new area and building a new social network takes time and effort.

• Uncertainty: The process of buying and selling a home is fraught with uncertainties. Market conditions, the timing of transactions, and potential complications during the sale or purchase can create stress and delays.

• Market Dependency: The success of selling your current home depends on the property market. If the market is slow or values are declining, you might have to sell for less than expected or wait longer to find a buyer.

IMPROVING YOUR HOME

ADVANTAGES

• Cost Efficiency: Home improvements can be more cost-effective than moving. Instead of incurring all the costs associated with buying a new home, you can invest in upgrading your current property to better suit your needs.

• Personalisation: Renovating allows you to tailor your home to your specific tastes and requirements. Whether it’s adding an extension, modernising the kitchen, or creating an open-plan living space, improvements can make your home more functional and enjoyable.

• Increased Property Value: Strategic improvements can increase the value of your home, potentially providing a good return on investment when you eventually decide to sell.

• Stability: Staying in your current home means you can maintain your social connections, children’s schooling, and familiarity with the neighbourhood, reducing the upheaval associated with moving.

DISAVANTGES

• Disruption: Home improvements can be disruptive and stressful. Living through construction work can be noisy, messy, and inconvenient, sometimes requiring temporary relocation.

• Unexpected Costs: Renovations often come with unexpected costs due to unforeseen issues such as structural problems or delays. Budget overruns are common, so it's essential to plan for contingencies.

• Limited Space: There’s only so much you can do to expand or improve your current property. If the fundamental size or layout doesn’t meet your needs, no amount of renovation will solve this problem.

• Planning and Permissions: Significant home improvements often require planning permission and adherence to building regulations. This can involve a lengthy and bureaucratic process, with no guarantee of approval.

COST-COMPARISON

MOVING COSTS

• Estate Agent Fees: Typically 1-3% of the sale price.

• Legal Fees: Around £1,000 - £3,000.

• Stamp Duty: Variable, depending on the property's value and location.

• Removal Costs: Approximately £300 - £1,500 depending on distance and amount of belongings.

• Mortgage Fees: Can include arrangement fees, valuation fees, and potential early repayment charges on your current mortgage.

HOME IMPROVEMENT COSTS

• Extension: Costs can range from £1,000 to £2,000 per square metre.

• Kitchen Renovation: Typically £5,000 - £20,000.

• Bathroom Renovation: Usually £3,000 - £10,000.

• Loft Conversion: Around £20,000 - £50,000.

• General Updates (painting, flooring, etc.): £1,000 - £5,000.

CONCLUSION

Both moving and improving your home have their merits and challenges. The decision ultimately depends on your personal circumstances, financial situation, and long-term goals. If your current location and property can be modified to meet your needs, home improvements might be the way to go. 

However, if you’re seeking significant lifestyle changes or your current home cannot be adapted, moving may be the better option.

Careful consideration of all factors, including the emotional and financial implications, is crucial. Consulting with real estate professionals, financial advisors, and builders can provide valuable insights and help you make an informed decision that best suits your needs and aspirations.

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While every effort has been made to check the accuracy of this article, readers should always make their own checks.

The Author does not accept any responsibility for misstatements made or any misunderstandings arising from the information provided.

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HOW TO ADD VALUE TO YOUR PROPERTY - THE TOP 10

Any repairs can add value to your home and cosmetic changes can uplift your properties value significantly.  Look at your local area to see what value you can add to your home and talk to your local Architect.

Here is our Top 10 list of ideas that will not only make your home a more pleasurable place to live but will potentially add value to your home.  If you are thinking of selling, then some of these increase the appeal of your house.

1.    Declutter and Deep clean - start with the basics

Declutter before you deep clean your property.  Find a better place for your things or have a good clear-out and dispose of anything you don’t need anymore, don’t be a hoarder!

Prepare the ground floor first to clear and then move up.

Remove dust from all surfaces.

Deep clean the windows inside and outside.

Deep clean the floors.  For soft floors, vacuum first and undertake a carpet wash, maybe hire a carpet cleaner, and do a decent job.

Wash all soft furnishings, i.e couches, beds etc.  Dry down cushions, pillows etc with clean tennis balls to prevent clumping.  For large bulky items, hit the local laundry and use one of their extra-large front loaders.  

For mattresses and couch bases, sprinkle baking soda on them, leave it for an hour and then vacuum with the hose attachment.  Flip them over and repeat the process.

Wipe all hard surfaces with hot soapy water, be careful with walls as some paint can be thinned down if wiped with excessive water. Use a damp cloth (not a wet soaked cloth) for wallpapered walls.

Do the above for each room, i.e. do it room by room.  It is better to plan and complete this room by room.

If you run out of time, it is better to have a few rooms completed, then it is easier to return to and soon you will complete the whole house.

Once completed, it is much easier to maintain this to each room and even easier if the whole house is decluttered and deep cleaned.

2.    Decorate- a lick of paint can change a room

• Identify your favourite decorating trends or hero.
• Pick a general colour for the main areas of the house.
• Review current colour schemes and review houses of a similar nature for inspiration on colours and decor for rooms.
• Make a space plan, target this room by room in a priority list.
• Touch up/ repaint architraves, shirtings and window and door frames.
• Touch-up/ repaint ceilings as required. 
• Paint your walls
• Be intentional with art and if you use art, make it a a feature in a room.

3.    Kerb Appeal

Probably the most important features for kerb appeal are well-maintained front door, windows and a roof that appears in good condition. 

A well-maintained front garden, pathways and fences are also important as this shows the house has been given care and attention.

4.    Increase the Energy Efficiency of your home

Ways to improve your home to make it energy efficient:

• Reduce your heating and look at using a secondary heating source.

• Use a new, energy-efficient boiler.

• Upgrade/ install insulation - look at your ground floor, walls and loft/roof.  Upgrade as required.  Think of this as the external shell of your home and protect it!

• Install/ upgrade windows and doors - they should be Double or triple glazed windows and external doors.  For external doors, metal and aluminium are very good for security and they give a clean and modern look.  They are also very easy to maintain.

• Draught-proofing - ensure that all external windows and doors are well-sealed inside and outside.

• Generate your own energy from renewable sources. (ground or air source heat pump, solar panels, hydroelectric systems, wind energy, biomass etc)

• Use Energy-efficient fittings.

5.    Change the layout - make the living area more open plan

As a general rule, planning permission for your open plan layout is only necessary if: 

• Your property is a listed building. 
• You'll be removing a load-bearing wall, chimney or beam. 
• When your open plan layout significantly affects an escape route or fire exit.

Changing the purpose of your rooms can make a big difference to your home, i.e. can you swap the living and dining rooms over?

While many homes still appreciate the concept of the open floor plan, more people are now working from home and many are reconfiguring their living space to create a dedicated office and more private work area.

If you would really like and enjoy an open plan living space then you may need to consider making structural changes.  This can involve removing load-bearing walls and creating new walls or structural columns to cope with opening up the layout.

Always seek professional advice on this before you begin any work.

6.    Improve/ Upgrade/ Replace the Kitchen

• Add or change the lighting.

• Install new cabinet handles,

• Recover/replace your worktops.

• Ensure all sink areas have a suitable tile backsplash, install as required.  For upgrading existing tiled areas, look at tiling over these areas as this is usually a lot easier than removing and replacing tiles.  Also, look at the range of vinyl tiled sheets available as these can easily be stuck over the existing tiles and they can look great. Make the tiles a feature of the room.

• Re-decorate the kitchen cabinets, walls and ceiling.  Satin paint is usually the best for kitchens as this is good for durability and easy to clean + there are now many paints available to specifically painting the kitchen units.  This can save you a lot of money instead of fitting new kitchen units and they come in a huge range of finishes, you can achieve any look you desire with paint.

• Ensure all surface junctions, i.e worktops to wall, tiles etc are adequately sealed with a mastic sealant.  This is easy to install and there are many tutorials on how to do this online.

• Patch up flooring as required or install new flooring. Look at vinyl stickers or new flooring.  There is a great range of flooring sheets available & suitable for kitchens for quick and easy application that an look great.

7.    Upgrade or add a new bathroom

Install a new bathroom or update as follows:

Ensure all the drainage works before you start any work and unblock and install anew piping to ensure it works well before you continue.

• Replace or install a shower.

• Adding a standalone bathtub.

• Adding an extra sink or shower-head.

• Ensure the ventilation extracts work, clan as required or install a new one.  Make sure the extract is to the outside, either through the external wall or via the roof.

• Review the location of plumbing or electrical features.  Ensure that you know the route of the drainage, the location of the soil pipe as this will determine where certain elements of your bathroom will be located.

• Re-tile/ install tiling to the shower, walls and backsplash.

8.    Improve (landscape) the garden(s) 

• Ensure the garden is regularly weeded.  Avoid using chemicals and look at sustainable methods of garden maintenance.

• Use rubble and reclaimed material for stone chipped areas or paving.

• Grow your own vegetable and fruit trees from seeds. Lemon and orange trees are easier than you think from the seeds and they can look great in a garden.

• Plant self-seeding flowers.  This can save you a lot of money in the long term, as you can grow your own from just a handful of plants.

• Make your own compost. Collect all compostable rubbish, i.e. fruit/ vegetable peelings, left overs from meals etc.

• Mow the lawn regularly - EXCEPT in ‘NO MOW MAY’, protect the bees!

9.    Convert the garage, loft or cellar

The main works involved when converting a garage include:

• Firstly, decide on your budget.

• Include a 20% contingency fund for any unforeseen items.

• Make design decisions at the start for the layout and the fixtures and fittings, ie. flooring, tiling, fixtures and fittings, and decoration. (Do this in the design phase of your project, i.e. before you employ a builder!). Do this before you contract a builder to start.  

• Floor slab – the existing floor may need to be levelled, damp-proofed and insulated.

• Infilling the door – Most garage conversions simply brick-up the garage door or if possible look at turning into a feature window.

• Wall insulation - if the garage has good solid brick wall, this is often a single skin of brickwork so it requires a second layer of blockwork to create a cavity wall.  To avoid any upgrade to the foundations for this, many garage conversion use a insulated timber stud wall to create the cavity wall.

• Roof insulation - dependant on roof type and internal look you want, this can be at ceiling level or in the rafters if you require more head height and an more open roof space.

• Windows & doors.

• Heating and electrics - depending the location of your house to the garage, this can often be done by extending the electric and heating systems of the house.

• Get multiple Builder contractors quotes (in writing!) that include the complete process from start to completion (i.e. labour, materials and VAT to avoid surprises).

See you post on Converting the Loft 'Loft Conversion, where do you start? 26th April 2024.

10.    Build an Extension

• Firstly, decide on your budget.

• Make design decisions at the start for the layout and the fixtures and fittings. Do this before you contract a builder to start.  It can save you time and a lot of money if this is correct from the start as any changes and additions can affect the projects timeline and the cost.

• Include a 20% contingency fund for any unforeseen items.

• Get multiple Builder contractors quotes (in writing!) that include the complete process from start to completion (i.e. labour, materials and VAT to avoid surprises).

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While every effort has been made to check the accuracy of this article, readers should always make their own checks.  

The Author does not accept any responsibility for misstatements made or any misunderstandings arising from it.

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BANK OF ENGLAND HOLD INTEREST RATES AT 5.25% - MAY 2024

 

On 10th May 2024 the Bank of England held the interest rates at 5.25%.  That is the sixth time in a row!

The rates are at their highest level for 16 years.  

There has been some positive news that inflation sat now at 3.2% but the Bank of England needs to see if inflation will stay low before they cut the interest rate.

If inflation does remain low then there has been hints that their will be cuts to the intent rate in the summer  😁  This could affect your mortgage  and savings rates.  

7 members voted for the rate to remain and 2 wanted to cut it to 5%.  

Inflation is predicted to fall below the 2% target by the end of June.

See the article on the BBC below, where it states the

‘Bank (of England) is optimistic things are moving the right direction.'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/interest rates