16
Jun
Now is a "good time" to add value to property through home
improvements
Repairs and renovations can offset falling property prices, an
expert has claimed.
Jason Orme, editor of Homebuilding & Renovating Magazine,
maintains home improvements remain a sound investment despite the
current slumped housing market.
His prediction comes as recent Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors statistics reported the average cost of home improvements
had risen by 20 per cent in the past two years.
However, Mr Orme says the figures are outdated and homeowners are
benefiting from falling labour costs instead as construction
workers compete for business to make up for fewer opportunities on
new starts.
Mr Orme says: "Now is a very good time to be adding space and value
if you really wanted to move up the property ladder."
In May Nationwide reported that house prices fell for the seventh
consecutive month, with the average property currently worth
£173,583.
