Seven ‘Home Improvements’ That Could Devalue Your Home

Given summer is typically the dry season in the UK, it may come as no surprise that many people choose these three months to do their home improvements. These can be big projects like adding an extension or simply painting a wall.

It’s generally believed that putting money into your home through ‘home improvements’ will increase the value of your property. However, this isn’t always the case. 

Some ‘improvements’ can have the opposite effect and create niche, or undesirable characteristics that can devalue your home. So to give you some warning, we’ve decided to reveal seven ‘home improvements’ that could devalue your home.

Whilst to some a swimming pool might seem like a great addition, to others, it will be an expensive feature to run and maintain. It can also only be used during the warmer days of the year, which in the UK isn’t many. This will put many buyers off, as they might have to get rid of the pool if they choose to buy the property. Due to the additional costs, this could devalue the property.

Cinema rooms are a dream for film lovers, but they aren’t everyone's cup of tea. They can be expensive to install and add no real value to a property. Buyers will most likely know right away if the room will get used, and if the answer is no this will stop them from purchasing.

Having a brightly coloured front on your property can be effective depending on the surrounding houses and area. However, if your home sticks out too much in a sea of darker and more traditional colours then this could be a problem. You’ll have to find a buyer who likes brighter-coloured properties and this tends to be rare which devalues the home. Alternatively, a new buyer will have to pay to paint over, costing them more money which will come out of the buying price.

Converting your garage into a gym or office might seem like a great idea, but it isn’t always cost-effective. This is because some buyers will be looking for a home that specifically has a garage to either store their car or other belongings. Removing that might reduce the demand for your property which ultimately decreases the value.

Built-in electronics are great to save space, but there’s no guarantee that electronics that are useful for you will be welcomed by someone else. Certain electronics might be seen as a waste of space and running costs by potential buyers, and the process of removing them is much harder than non-built-in electronics. This results in extra costs, which could easily devalue your home.

We all want our home to feel like ours, and a way to do this is to personalise it in your style. That’s all fine and dandy but it could devalue your home, this is because not everyone has the same taste so some buyers might be put off by the design. For example, you might love leopard skin, but the majority of people won’t be too keen. They will have to spend a large sum of money in order to replace it with a more neutral design.

If you’re lucky enough to have more bedrooms than you require, then you might be tempted to convert it into something else. This is particularly common when a child moves out of the family home. But reducing the number of bedrooms can seriously lower the asking price of your property, as typically the more bedrooms the more expensive a property is. Buyers would welcome a spare bedroom but will be put off if there isn’t enough to meet their needs.

‘’We all take pride in our homes, but we also want to know that the money we’re putting into improving our property is worthwhile. Not everything that is popular to you will be welcomed by others so it’s important to keep that in mind if you ever plan to sell.

Having a desired property increases its value, so do everything in your power to get as much money as possible. Taking the above advice into account could end up saving you a lot of money.’’