10 ways to invest in your home

There are lots of home improvements you can consider as investments because they will either pay for themselves overtime or increase the value of the property itself, here are ten of the best: 

1. Get a loft conversion 

1. Build an extension 

1. Install solar panels 

1. Get a new front door 

1. Install new windows 

1. Get a new heating system 

1. Install a water softener 

1. Get cavity insulation 

1. Fit a new kitchen / Bathroom 

1. Get a garden building 

1 A Loft Conversion 

A loft conversion will add extra living space to your home and increase it’s value. 

You can add even more value by including extra features such as Juliet / window balconies and extending the usable space with dormers. 

By creating an extra floor on your property, a loft conversion offers something quite unique and unmatched by anything else in this list.  

2 Build an Extension 

Extensions can be an excellent way to increase the value of your home and can offer a better return on investment than a basement or loft conversion. 

Getting an extension to your home offers almost unrivalled flexibility in terms of scope and scale which will only be limited by: 

• Budget 

• Planning Permission 
• Available space on your property 

Much like loft conversions, extensions can be very capital intensive and are likely to be several tens of thousands of pounds for starters. 

3 Install Solar Panels 

Solar Panels have a double benefit which will add value to your home: 

1. They reduce your electricity bills 

1. They generate income 

A typical home in the UK with solar panels will can see a 50% reduction in their electricity bill and a rebate of as much as £1,000 per year from solar panels. 

These figures could go up or down depending on the time of year, the size of your roof and electrical prices / subsidies. 

4 Get a New Front Door 

This might seem like an odd one, but an old timber front door can terrible source of heat loss for a home.  

Replacing your old front door is an investment that could pay for itself in a couple of years on heating bills alone, but more than that it is the first part of the house any guest (or buyer) has with your home. 

5 Install New Windows 

Installing new windows in your home will take a long time to pay for itself in terms of savings on heating, but it can add value to your home if your existing windows are in poor condition. 

Most UK homes are expected to have doble glazed windows as a minimum, so if your windows are single glazed, damaged, or tired it will be seen as ‘something which needs to be done’ in any kind of valuation scenario. 

6 Upgrade Your Heating 

There are two potential avenues to explore with heating, depending on how much other renovation you are planning to do. 

Getting a new boiler and / or radiators is likely to save you money because the advances in technology mean that your 10-20 year old system is likely to be much less efficient than modern systems which can be bought today. 

If you are doing some serious renovation it may also be worth considering underfloor heating as it removes the need for radiators in rooms and is very desirable to potential buyers. 

7 Install a Water Softener 

This is something will either be useful or not at all, deepening on if you live in a hard water area or not. 

Hard water will leave white stains on plates, glasses, cutlery baths, showers, sinks and also drastically reduce the life of appliances such as: 

• Dishwashers 
• Boilers 
• Washing Machines 

• Kettles 
• Irons 

Water softening systems are not cheap but they are likely to pay for themselves by extending the life of your appliances. 

8 Cavity Insulation  

Cavity Insulation can make a big difference to the feel of a house in Winter and will save you money in the long run. 

Insulation for walls and lofts can often be obtained for free thanks to government grants, so if you don’t have it already you should really get it done. 

9 Fit a New Kitchen or Bathroom 

If you are looking to increase the value of a property, kitchens and bathrooms are some of the most important items on the list. 

This is particularly true if you live in an area with a lot of similar sized houses – if there are lots of 3-bed semis in your area, you make yours more valuable than the going rate by having a better-than-average kitchen and bathroom. 

10 Get a garden building 

Like an extension, only cheaper! A garden building is essentially a fancy shed which aren’t usually designed to be ‘lived in’ as such, but provide additional space for certain activities. 

Typical uses for garden buildings are gyms, offices and workshops. 

The only downside to garden buildings is that they don’t last as long as a proper extension and you might find that you will need to replace it after 10-15 years.