If you're thinking your house could do with a little more space and you're tempted to add in a conservatory, think again - as it could knock several thousand pounds off your home's value.
Once a hugely popular building feature aiming to add extra light and space, conservatories aren't always seen as a desirable part of the home anymore. Housing experts now say they look dated and they're not particularly energy-efficient - putting off a lot of potential buyers due to the energy crisis.
The website Rightmove has shown that there are were 52 per cent fewer houses coming onto the market with conservatories in 2022, compared to ten years previously. Other figures show there were around a million built in 2006, compared to 77,000 constructed in 2017, the Mirror reports.
This comes as house prices have now fallen on a monthly basis for seven months in a row, according to Nationwide. Christ Hodgkinson, of House Buyer Bureau, allegedly said that properties can be devalued by as much as £15,000 through having a conservatory/
He said: "An outdated conservatory can be an eyesore which will cause an immediate bad first impression, particularly with younger buyers," he told thisismoney.co.uk. If it's not in keeping with the overall style of your home, it acts as a buying deterrent.
"They may see it is an expensive problem that needs fixing - demolishing a conservatory alone comes in at £2,000. A buyer will ultimately factor this in when putting in an offer on your home, reducing the price you are likely to achieve.”
Many potential homeowners are searching for a place that's energy-efficient, meaning conservatories are becoming more off-putting. James Powell, of Hunters estate agents in York reportedly said: "We're seeing people turn their conservatory into another room or taking the traditional glass or plastic roof off and replacing it with a proper roof. They are just quite unusable otherwise."
Meanwhile Nationwide has stated that house prices fell by 3.1 per cent year-on-year in March - the largest annual decline since July, 2009.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist said: “March saw a further decline in annual house price growth, with prices down 3.1 per cent compared with the same month last year. March also saw a further monthly price fall (-0.8%) which leaves prices 4.6 per cent below their August peak (after taking account of seasonal effects).
“The housing market reached a turning point last year as a result of the financial market turbulence which followed the mini-budget. Since then, activity has remained subdued – the number of mortgages approved for house purchase remained weak at 43,500 cases in February, almost 40 per cent below the level prevailing a year ago."
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