How improving your home can improve your life!

Investing in home improvements is a worthwhile exercise for many reasons.

Anything that makes a home more comfortable, energy efficient and attractive will add value, and not only by increasing market value. Some improvements also save money in the long term by reducing fuel and maintenance costs. And what value would you place on a home that is perfectly adapted to fit your needs?

Here are some of the most popular improvements that are proven to improve quality of life and increase property value:

Cut Energy Bills: Insulate

With energy bills soaring, it makes more financial sense than ever to stop expensive heat escaping from your home. According to the Energy Saving Trust, insulating the loft of an average three-bedroom semi could save about £150 per year. Insulating walls, floors, hot water tanks and pipes saves even more, allowing you to recoup the costs within a couple of years.

Keep Warm and Pay Less for your Heating

The older your heating system, the less efficient it will be compared with modern systems. It’s also more likely to break down and need expensive repairs. Back boilers are no longer allowed under today’s building regulations. If you have one, it will need to be replaced sooner or later so why not begin saving energy now? You’ll be helping the environment as well as your bank balance.

Replacement windows and doors for a Warmer, Quieter and Safer Home

Installing new windows and exterior doors makes your home warmer, quieter and more secure. Double glazing the average home can reduce heating costs by £135 a year. It also screens out unwanted noise: wonderful if you live near a busy road. When you look for new windows and doors, check out the security features offered: most come with strong locks and are designed to deter would-be intruders. And don’t forget that many home contents insurance policies are void without certain types of locks being in place.

New kitchen: Increase the Value of your Home by 10%

If your kitchen is outdated, or was chosen by a previous owner and is not completely to your liking, just imagine the difference a new one could make. Choosing new, energy efficient appliances at the same time will shrink your bills. A complete top-of-the-range kitchen may not come cheap, but the National Association of Estate Agents estimates that it can increase the value of your home by up to 10%. 

New bathroom: Accessible and Convenient

A convenient en-suite? An accessible walk-in bath? A wet room? Why not splash out on the bathroom of your dreams? And, while you’ve got the plumbers in, what about that downstairs cloakroom you’ve been promising yourself? It will make life easier and add value to your home at the same time.  

Create more Space for Relatives to Stay and Play

Is your home suddenly too small when children and grandchildren come to visit? Would you like to invite someone to live with you but lack the facilities they need? Perhaps you’ve always longed for more space for your hobby; your own art studio or music room, for example. A conservatory, a one or two-storey extension that blends beautifully with the existing building, or a loft conversion can all give you the extra room you need without all the trouble and expense of moving. A well-designed extension could also increase your home’s value by up to 50%.

Make your Outdoors Great

Take a good look outside your home. Are you making the most of your garden? Having it professionally landscaped could make it more attractive and easier to manage. Gain more privacy and security with new boundary walls or fences if the old ones are no longer up to the job. If you are a car owner without a garage it’s worth considering that the reduced risk of theft and vandalism from keeping your car garaged will mean a reduction in your insurance premiums.

These are just a few ideas on how to enhance what is probably your most valuable and cherished asset. The next thing to do is consider ways of financing them.

How to Finance Home Improvements

There are of course a range of options including using savings, re-mortgaging and traditional loans. But if you are over 55, the very thing you are looking to improve could provide the answer to your finance related needs.

As a homeowner aged 55+, you could use the value of your home to obtain a tax-free cash sum to spend on home improvements, or whatever you wish for that matter. Providing you take independent financial advice and deal with a specialist equity release adviser who is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and who only recommends products endorsed by Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP), you can be assured that releasing cash from your property is completely safe, that you will never owe more than it is worth and you can live in your home for as long as you wish.

The great thing about using equity release to fund home improvements is that there are no monthly repayments, no credit checks and the finance is not related to your income.

If you would like to improve your home, and you are aged 55+ and a homeowner, why not use the value in your home to improve your home? If you are considering equity release as one of your finance options, don’t forget to take independent financial advice from a Financial Services Authority regulated equity release specialist.