Thursday, October 5, 2006
Category:
Secured Loans
Cutting edge research conducted by Halifax, the UK’s mortgage lender, reveals that the nations DIYers have ditched complicated home improvements in favour of a simple, straightforward approach.
The findings highlight a shift in the trends, with many home owners favouring aesthetic improvements such as decorating, rather than ‘warmth factor’ home improvements such as central heating, double glazing and insulation. The figures reveal that the most popular home improvement is redecorating, with 75% of us choosing to give our home a fresh coat of paint to revamp it. 52% of us will choose to refurnish our homes to create a new look and 36% of us will choose to replace our carpets.
The survey also showed that the trend of refreshing a property’s image is set to continue over the next twelve months with 67% of surveyed people citing redecorating as their top plan for improvements. Of those that spent money on home improvements in the next 12 months, the costs of home improvements are relatively small with almost half of surveyed people spending as little as £2,500 on improvements. However, 84% of surveyed people revealed that they had spent up to £20,000 on improving their property, an investment that could increase the overall property value.
Donna Spencer, head of secured lending at Halifax said: “the continued desire to improve their homes shows that people are taking a responsible attitude towards their properties and enjoying making the most of them.”
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Homeowners who are considering improving their property could take out a
secured home owner loan to enable them to create their dream property. Small projects such as redoing an existing kitchen and bathroom, or bigger projects to extend a property and add rooms can all be funded by a home owner loan. Repayments can usually be made over a term of 5 to 25 years and homeowners might even find that they add value to their properties by carrying out home improvements with their home owner loan.
