House values damaged by dodgy DIY improvements

Whilst the recession may have forced many homeowners to take on DIY improvement work rather than hiring an expert, new research from home insurer LV= illustrates that doing these jobs badly can result in a house price falling by more than 5%.

LV=’s research reveals that that in the last few years as many as 4.05m homeowners have undertaken electrical jobs without professional help, 3.3m have attempted plumbing work and 1.35m have carried out structural work such as removing walls. Nearly 1m (900,000) have tried their hand at major building works, such as loft conversions, and 450,000 have tackled potentially dangerous gas repairs.

The LV= report surveyed both homeowners and estate agents, and reveals a myriad of conflicting opinions when it comes to the impact of DIY improvements. A fifth of home owners (21%) believe that redecorating adds the most value to a house, followed by kitchen refurbishment (14%), garden work (12%), and bathroom replacement (6%).

Seven out of ten estate agents (69%) who have seen decorating carried out say it will make no difference at all to the asking price of a property. A similar number (64%) say that garden landscaping won’t add value, whilst nearly a quarter (22%) say that even a new kitchen won’t really improve the price. Estate agents also believe that the sale price of a property could decrease by more than 5% in some cases, if ‘improvement’ work was done poorly.

Despite popular opinion, estate agents say that some of the most costly jobs are likely to have only a minimal impact on the asking price of a home. Those agents who believe that improvement work usually or always adds value say that a new kitchen, if done well, can add around 2.5% to the price on average. A good new bathroom or garden landscaping can each add 2.2% to the value on average.

Structural improvements that are done well, such as a good loft conversion, top the added value list and can boost a property’s price by around 8% on average. But whilst a good loft conversion can add value it still doesn’t make good financial sense, as the cost of the work is likely to be higher than the increase in the property’s value.

John O’Roarke, managing director of LV= home insurance, said:

“With house prices falling or stagnating in some parts of the UK, it’s understandable that many homeowners should try to bump up the value of their properties through DIY home improvements.

“But although nine out of ten people in our survey (88%) recognised that jobs like gas work should only be left to the professionals, nearly 0.5m Brits are still prepared to give it a go. Not only could bungling these jobs be dangerous, and costly to put right, but if they caused a serious problem with the property it could invalidate the home insurance cover.”