Home Improvements or a New Home. What’s Best for You?

In this article Evesham Glass and Glazing give you the facts so you can make the right decision for your circumstances.

Let’s start with Evesham Glass’s area of expertise. Windows and doors. The first question then is;

How Much Value Does Double Glazing Add to a Property?

At first glance this might seem to be a hard question to answer. Breaking the answer down into four areas should make it easier to understand.

The four areas where your property will benefit from new double glazing are;

• Immediate increase in home value
• Long term energy savings
• Increased kerb appeal, selling potential
• Environmental impact

The Office of national statistics shows that major home improvements are the 4^th largest household expenditure after mortgage or rent, household bills and other obligatory household payments such as council tax;

Double glazing and central heating are the most common of these home improvements. That’s for good reason. Let’s see what impact new doors and windows has on a property.

Immediate Increase in Property Value

For each £1000 spent on double glazing the immediate impact on the value of the home   according to the office of national statistics, is between £300 and £700.

So immediately the value of your home increases to cover a substantial amount of the cost of double glazing.

Just how much value is added depends on the “before and after” impact of your new windows and doors.

Replacing old and visually unattractive windows with modern energy saving double glazing will have the largest positive impact. Updating reasonably new windows will have a lesser impact.

That is just the first tangible value new doors and windows add to a home, let’s look at;

The Long Term Energy Savings from Double Glazing

It probably comes as no surprise that the biggest cost savings are those that are accrued over time by the energy savings that efficient double glazing offers.

For this we use the reliable and trusted figures supplied by The Energy Saving Trust

The figures show that, depending on where you live, the cost of the windows themselves and the energy efficiency rating of the windows, fitting double glazing can save from £100 to £145 on energy bills per year.

Over the typical eighteen to twenty-year lifespan of double-glazed windows, this adds up to between £1800 and £2900.  A substantial amount especially when added to the initial value increase of your home these improvements offer.

You don’t get a second chance at making a first impression.

Estate agents will tell you that a potential sale is made or lost often before the prospective buyer has set foot in the property. Windows, doors, garden, roof and guttering make the most impact.

What about the aesthetics of your home, especially important when you are looking to sell? Our third area of value is;

How Much of a Difference Does it Make to Get This Right?

Short answer: Positive kerb appeal makes a huge difference.

Longer answer: Look at this blog post from well-known TV property show presented Phil Spencer.

The major take-away point from his analysis is just how large a sales impact kerb appeal has.

A standout fact for me was the knowledge that a prospective buyer has likely made up their mind about a home they are viewing in 8 seconds.

In eight seconds!

Having new windows, a smart secure front door and maintained roof and guttering tell a potential buyer that the house is safe, that there is little for them to do structurally before they can move in and feel as if they are at home.

It shows the current owner has cared for the property and subconsciously, this sense of being a well-loved property will carry on through into everything else they see.

The direct financial impact of an attractive frontage is hard to nail down. However, when taken with what is known as “property styling” or “home staging”, the sales impact is enormous.

Like for like properties rated by estate agents as “A” class in terms of appeal sell in a fraction of the time of structurally similar properties rated “C” or lower.

The effects of property staging are illustrated in this article by The Guardian newspaper

The difference is a poorly presented property can spend a year or more on the market while being viewed and rejected by dozens of potential buyers. A well-presented home being typically sold in the first 12 weeks of going to market.

The fourth issue impacting the value of new doors and windows is;

The Environmental Impact of Fitting Energy Efficient Windows and Doors

Heat leaking through doors, windows and roofs of a poorly insulated home is a waste of energy.

With well over 50% of the UKs energy coming from the burning of fossil fuels it goes without saying that wasted energy is not only an additional cost for the homeowner, but also adding carbon to the atmosphere.

With electrical energy, every wasted kilowatt hour adds, on average 850 grams of Co2 to the atmosphere. With gas it is 488 grams of Co2 per kilowatt hour.

The UK government’s PDF “Carbon Footprint Electricity generation” has the full story. Download the PDF here

To sum up,

• If you are staying put, choosing new windows and doors will return some initial investment in terms of property value
• These improvements will recoup value year on year in terms of energy savings
• The aesthetic benefits will improve the salebility of your property should you later decide to move
• The environment will benefit from increase efficiency and a reduction in wasted Co2 emissions.

There is a good fifth reason for improving your doors and windows of course

It’s more pleasant to live in a home will smart, secure modern windows and doors.

Hopefully this information has proved useful to you. The links provided to support the ideas are to the best, most trusted resources we know of. We’d like to finish by offering a summary of the factors we might consider when answering the key issue;

How to Tell if Moving Home is the Right Option

Sometimes the answer is simple, and you are driven by your circumstances.

There may be pressure for space within your current home. New arrivals or the need to look after an older relative. Perhaps children have left home, or you’ve always wanted a home with a large garden.

Each of these life changes can lead a homeowner to reconsider their current arrangements. Up sizing, down-scaling, extensions or renovations.

The office of national statistics keeps a close eye on the prices of home improvement options and the value of homes before and after extension or renovation.

A full UK survey was carried out in 2017 and the results updated in 2018.

Before you start, you might want to look at this handy online calculator that rates the value of improvements by post code for the whole of the UK

This is done using real data collated by the office of national statistics. Just put your postcode and the size of your extension in the calculator on this page.

Factors Influencing the Value of Home Improvements

The figures from the office of national statistics might need some explanation.

There is not a “one size fits all” calculation for the value a new set of windows or an improved central heating system would add to a home. The largest influencing factor is the location of your home.

Secondly there is the size of the extension or renovation. The number of bedrooms and the overall space of a dwelling will always be an important factor here.

It is possible that you are unable to extend your current home. Living in an apartment, flat or maisonette will limit or remove most options to extend.

Your local council may not grant planning permission either due to local considerations or government policy. It’s best to know where you stand before you plan.

Worcestershire planning regulations are here;

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20014/planning

Warwickshire’s conditions are here

https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/info/20004/planning

The information and resources linked to above should prove helpful in your decision making. Should you stay and improve? Or is it time to move on?

We always advise taking independent legal advice before committing to any course of action.

Evesham Glass and Glazing are Here to Help

Evesham Glass and Glazing, a local company with a reputation for first class customer service.

Windows and doors are our speciality. We are proud of our work and showcase it with photographs and testimonials from our customers. Browse our previous work or get in touch today.