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Property investors losing out through poor DIY

16th June 2006 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

The national obsession with DIY is reportedly leaving property investors out of pocket, with many of their projects actually devaluing houses.

A new study has revealed that Brits have spent a staggering £154 billion on ambitious DIY ventures that have led to their property losing some of its value. It is a trend that has been accelerated by the huge number of home improvement shows on television which often give the impression that adding value to a house is as easy as swinging a hammer or wielding a drill.

According to Direct Line Insurance, 21 per cent of those who decide to remove period features from their homes, for instance, are risking stripping five per cent from the value of their property investment.

With the average property in the UK now worth somewhere in the region of £180,000 to £190,000, this can mean losing out on around £9,000 and it is a trap that is clearly snaring many eager DIY enthusiasts.

Laying a cheap wooden floor is generally seen as one of the most horrific of all DIY crimes but 33 per cent of those surveyed by Direct Line admitted that they had done so. It is a faux pas that can knock two per cent off the value of a property, which again represents a significant sum of money.

The survey also found that 32 per cent of home "improvers" had chosen to install PVC windows on their property with a view to boosting the selling price. Sadly, if unsurprisingly, this tends to reduce the house price by as much as five per cent.

These DIY crimes are usually committed with the best of intentions, with 48 per cent of the culprits sure that they are actually adding value to an investment property. A deluded 11 per cent of these are confident that they are pushing the value up by as much as £10,000.

Experts have also warned against a series of other design crimes, including the removal of fireplaces and knocking down partition walls. Fitting a budget kitchen is also seen as something of a DIY gaffe and property developers are warned that this kind of move will do nothing in terms of drawing in higher bids.

Many of the respondents to the survey admitted that the ill-advised changes had been carried out as a result of inspiration from one of the many DIY shows on television, while another seven per cent said that they were imitating similar moves by friends or relatives.

Whatever the inspiration, however, the advice is simply that misguided DIY projects can severely limit the saleability of a property.

Simon Ziviani, a spokesperson for Direct Line, said: "Taste is a subjective thing, but our research does show that certain home improvements have a detrimental effect on property values.

"Homeowners need to think extremely carefully before making changes to their properties, to ensure that they don't end up costing them dearly."

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